GREATER  NEW  YORK 
1902    GOVERNMENT  1903 


Father  shocker 
icKfl  Adrift 


Fusion  Record  Publishing  Co.,  442  Pearl  St.,  New  York. 


M  everybody 
now  $c«  Tt 


N.  Y.  Herald,  Sept.  13,  1903. 

A  CHANGE  OF  NAME 

Intake  no  persona!  allusion 

In  this  brief  reference  to  "fusion," 

But  when  dilating  thereupon 

Much  parlance  sapors  so  of  'con/' 

The  dual  words  should  be  annexed ; 

I  trust  that  no  one  will  be  'vexed 

Or  suffer  cerebral  contusion — 

The  proper  word  should  be  "Confusion, 


FATHER  KNICKERBOCKER  ADRIFT 


Every  citizen  of  Greater  New  York,  and  every  business  interest  in 
the  metropolis,  feels  the  effect  of  the  situation  described  in  this  head- 
line. In  the  first  half  of  its  experience  of  the  "Fusion"  administration 
the  city  suffered  from  a  vacillating  and  nerveless  policy  dictated  by  a 
desire  to  satisfy  the  conflicting  demands  of  this  irresponsible  collection 
of  political  elements.  The  helplessness  of  the  nominal  executive  head 
was  pitiful. 

Mayor  Low's  pottering  Police  Commissioner,  Part- 
ridge, his  puerile  Bridge  Commissioner,  Lindenthal,  his 
penny-saving,  dollar-wasting  City  Record  Supervisor, 
Cowen,  his  patent-reversible-opinion-law-officer,  Rives,  his 
department-wrecking  Fire  Commissioner,  Sturgis,  his 
ineffective  Water  Commissioner,  the  quitter  Dougherty,  his 
many  other  administrative  disappointments  and  failures 
with  showings  of  extravagance  where  retrenchment  and 
economy  had  been  promised,  his  Reynolds  fad  faction  and 
his  own  fathering  of  legislative  follies  in  Albany  and  the 
Board  of  Aldermen  made  him  supremely  ridiculous.  Every- 
body remembers  the  petty  annoyances,  the  greater  oppres- 
sions and  the  multitudinous  mistakes  of  that  period  as  well 
as  the  stubborn  self-sufficiency  with  which  Mayor  Low 
clung  to  his  most  obvious  errors. 
It  then  seemed  that  no  change  could  be  anything,  but  an  improve- 
ment. The  latter  half  of  the  "Fusion"  administration  has,  unhappily, 
dispelled  this  comfortable  illusion. 

Casting  aside  his  pretence  of  non-partisanship  and 
yielding  to  his  innate  Republicanism,  Mayor  Low  formed 
an  alliance  with  the  Odell  political  machine.    This  put 
him  in  line  with  the  narrow,  intolerant  and  plundering  pol- 
icy of  the  Republican  legislative  majority  toward  this  city. 
He  has  proved  a  helpful  ally  and  in  supporting  the  Bedell  bill  and 
other  attacks  upon  the  metropolis,  together  with  the  State  steal  of 
$5,000,000  of  city  excise  money,  he  makes  a  very  able  coadjutor  in  the 
predatory  plans  of  the  up-country  enemies  of  the  city. 

No  particular  pains  seem  to  have  been  taken  to  conceal  this  deal 
and  the  strong  hand  of  Odell  was  soon  shown  in  the  replacing  of 
Partridge  by  Greene  and  the  latter's  instant  activity  in  the  work  of 
Republicanizing  the  Police  Department  and  in  the  enforcement  of  the 
blue  laws  which  commend  the  Republican  State  Machine  to  the  rural 
voters.  The  Mayor's  most  loyal  admirers  admit,  that  unless  Partridge'3 
resignation  and  the  Greene  appointment  had  been  arranged  for  him  by 
the  powers  in  the  Republican  party,  he  would  still  be  waiting  complac- 
ently for  his  first  choice  as  Police  Commissioner  to  do  something. 

This  would  be  quite  as  creditable  to  him,  however,  as  his  present 
pretence  of  expecting  reforms  for  the  benefit  of  the  city  at  the  hands  of 
the  party  of  the  post  office  frauds,  of  the  Littauer  glove,  the  Indian 
Commission,  the  land  office  and  countless  other  scandals. 

Father  Knickerbocker  needs  to  keep  a  sharper  lookout  than  ever. 
His  rickety  "Fusion"  raft  is  in  more  danger  than  that  of  helpless  drift- 
ing. There  are  political  pirates  about  whose  purpose  is  to  capture  him 
and  to  deliver  him  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies. 


Note.— The  dictionary  definition  of  "fusion"  is:  "In  politics,  the 
coalition  of  two  parties  or  factions."    (The  lexicographer  evidently  doe3 


2 


NEW   YORK,  1902-1003. 


iiot  conceive  the  possibility  of  the  coalition  of  more  than  two  parties.) 

Coalition  we  find  to  mean,  "Union  in  a  body  or  mass." 

Even  Mayor  Low  will  hardly  claim  that  this  "Fusion"  administra- 
tion was  ever  a  united  body  or  mass.  Then  it  must  take  the  character 
of  the  boasted  85  per  cent,  share  which  the  Republicans  claim  to  have 
had  in  its  make-up. 

There  is  no  dictionary  definition  of  "non-partisan."  (See  the  Century 
Dictionary.) 

There  is  no  lack  of  descriptions  of  this  imaginary  state,  however. 
One  of  the  best  is  the  work  of  a  well-known  writer  on  political  subjects, 
as  follows: 

"Only  dead  people  are  non-partisans.  The  nearest  that  a  person 
can  approach  to  becoming  a  non-partisan  and  live,  is  to  become  either 
a  fool  or  a  lunatic.  It  is  impossible  for  a  sane  person,  after  understand- 
ing any  question,  not  to  take  some  side  of  such  question;  and  when 
this  is  done,  such  person  becomes  m  Dartlsan." 


PROTECT  YOUR  HOME. 


New  York  City  Is  the  Object  of  the  Predatory  Plans  of  the 
Republican  Legislative  Majority — Taxed  on  Property, 
Business,  Refreshments,  and  Even  in  Death, 
for  the  Benefit  of  Up-State  Land  Owners. 

I^ow's  Political  Partner,  Odell,  the  Arch-Schemer  against  the  People 

of  the  Metropolis. 

Governor  Ode"ll,  in  his  great  anxiety  to  abolish  the  direct  State  tax 
for  the  benefit  of  his  rural  friends,  has  attempted  many  expedients  in 
taxation  which  have  astounded  all  well-informed  persons  who  have 
studied  tax  matters.  Some  of  these  expedients  were  so  bare-faced  in 
their  injustice  to  some  localities  or  interests  that  the  Governor  had  to 
abandon  them.  An  instance  of  this  was  the  case  of  the  mortgage  tax, 
a  most  palpable  outrage  in  the  direction  of  double  taxation  of  real  es- 
tate. Mortgaged  property,  of  course,  pays  the  taxes  assessed  upon  it. 
If,  in  addition,  the  mortgage  itself  is  to  be  taxed  the  individual  who 
lends  money  on  its  security  will  not  long  be  the  person  mulcted.  The 
poor  real  estate  owner  will  soon  find  that  he  will  have  to  pay  the  in- 
crease in  the  rate  of  interest  on  the  mortgage. 

Other  equally  glaring  cases  of  double  taxation  have,  however,  been 
"  tuiccessfully  carried  through  to  enactment  into  law  by  the  Republican 
majority  in  Albany. 

Of  course,  this  taxation  has  always  been  arranged  so 
v  at  the  part  of  it  that  falls  upon  the  property  and  busi- 
ness interests  in  New  York  City  will  be  the  heavier,  while 
the  rural  districts  will  derive  the  greater  benefit. 

The  tax  on  the  franchises  of  real  estate  corporations  hero  is  a 
£Tievous  burden.  The  real  estate  which  represents  the  assets  of  the 
corporation  is  fully  assessed  and  taxed  locally.  To  put  a  burden  of 
franchise  taxation  upon  the  corporation  which  stands  in  the  place  of  an 
individual  owner  and  pays  an  equal  rate  of  taxation  with  such  indi- 
vidual owner,  is  a  piece  of  glaring  injustice. 

In  the  extra  tnxation  of  some  parts  of  the  savings  bank  funds,  the 
State  takes  more  money  out  of  the  city  than  comes  back  to  us  in  our 
proportion  of  the  State's  division  to  localities. 

The  New  Yorker  who  riles  leaving  property  on  which  an  inheritrir.ee 
tax  is  levied  makes  a  posthumous  payment  to  the  exactions  of  up-Stato 
greed.  The  collateral  inheritance  tax  collected  here  goes  more  to  th» 
benefit  of  the  strangers  afar  and  afield  than  to  that  of  the  community 
of  the  friends  and  neighbors  of  the  decedent. 


NEW   YORK,    1902— 1903. 


I 


Even  in  the  city's  share  toward  the  levy  of  what  re- 
mains of  the  direct  State  tax,  injustice  and  inequality  are 
the  result  of  the  Republican  policy.  The'  New  York  tax- 
payer is  here  hard  hit  again. 

By  the  action  of  the  State  Board  of  Equalization,  so  called,  he  Is 
saddled  with  an  over-proportion  of  this  direct  State  tax,  because  of  the 
low  valuations  for  tax  purposes  put  upon  the  farms  of  the  State.  To- 
day this  injustice  has  been  magnified  under  the  "Fusion"  plan  of  full 
valuations  in  the  appraisement  for  purposes  of  taxation.  This  increase 
in  the  valuations  of  city  property,  which,  of  course,  means  no  corre- 
sponding increase  Ln  selling  or  holding  value,  will  serve  to  allow  the 
State  Board  of  Equalization  to  enormously  increase  the  disproportion 
that  the  city  has  hitherto  suffered  from. 

STATE  STEAL  OF  EXCISE  MONEY. 
The    most,  aggravated,  instance,  of.  discrimination 
against  the  city,  however,  is  found  in  the  State  excise  or 
liquor  tax. 

It  is  when  he  takes  a  drink  that  Father  Knickerbocker  gets  it  the 
worst  from  the  State  government  that  favors  its  farmer  friends.  Whether 
the  New  Yorker  drinks  much  or  little,  seldom  or  often,  whether  he 
takes  wine,  beer  or  whiskey,  he  pays  heavily  in  this  indulgence  toward 
relieving  the  tax  burdens  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  rest  of  the  State. 
Last  Winter  Governor  Odell  and  his  State  machine,  with  the  assistance 
of  Mayor  Low  and  his  other  "Fusion"  allies  here,  amended  the  Raines 
Law  so  as  to  squeeze  a  few  more  millions  from  the  people  in  this  city. 
The  hotels,  restaurants  and  saloons  in  New  York  which  were  formerly 
taxed,  under  the  Raines  Liquor  Law,  $800  a  year  were  made  to  pay- 
Si, 200  instead.  Before  this  law  was  amended,  thp  liquor  tax  license  fees 
paid  in  New  York  City  amounted  to  nearly  58.000,000.  The  proportion 
received  back  by  the  city  from  the  State  officials  who  collected  it  was. 
on  the  basis  of  the  two-thirds  division,  five  and  one-third  millions  of 
dollars,  leaving  two  and  two-third  millions  for  the  State  to  distribute 
for  the  benefit  of  the  residents  of  other  localities.  The  amendment  re- 
duced the  city's  proportion  in  the  division  from  two-thirds  to  one-half. 
Under  the  provisions  of  the  amendment  increasing  this  tax  from  $800 
to  $1,200  a  year,  the  proceeds  of  the  tax  collected  by  the  State  did  not 
proportionately  increase.  Some  of  the  small  dealers,  especially  those 
whose  liquor  and  beer  business  was  merely  an  accommodation  to  cus- 
tomers frequenting  their  restaurants  and  small  table  d'hote  places,  were 
driven  out  of  business.  When  the  amount  of  the  increase  was  known 
and  the  difference  in  the  percentage  of  the  division  calculated. 

It  was  found  that  while  New  York  City  received  only  a 
few  hundred  thousand  dollars  out  of  the  additional  amount 
collected,  the  share  that  went  to  the  State  was  increased 
by  about  five  millions  of  dollars. 
This  excise  money  returned  to  the  city  from  the  State  is  used  to 
make  up  for  the  payment  of  the  pensions  of  the  policemen,  the  firemen 
and  the  school  teachers  whatever  may  be  lacking  in  the  amount  raised 
for  that  purpose  in  other  directions.  When  anything  is  left  of  the  ex- 
cise money  after  that,  it  is  used  for  the  charities.  It  will  be  seen  that 
this  fund  should  be  as  carefully  guarded  as  any  other  part  of  the  income 
of  the  city.  Any  deficiency  in  it  for  the  purposes  mentioned  will  have 
to  be  made  up  from  the  proceeds  of  direct  taxation.  Every  cent  taken 
from  it,  therefore,  is  liable  to  cause  the  necessity  to  resort  to  some 
other  source  for  means  to  use  in  those  directions,  and  the  final  resort 
is  always  direct  local  taxation,  the  burden  of  which  falls  mainly  on  the 
real  estate  owner,  and  through  him  on  the  rent  payer.  No  clearer  duty 
could  devolve  upon  Mayor  Low  than  that  of  conserving  the  city's  in- 
terest in  this  excise  money  collection,  and  we  find  that  he  was  not  only 
indifferent  to  this  duty,  but  actually  in  league  with  the  predatory 
Odell  in  his  scheme  to  filch  from  that  fund  for  the  benefit  of  the  rural 
taxpayer. 

There  is  no  occasion,  in  this  connection,  to  discuss  the  merits  of  the 
question  of  this  increase  as  it  relates  to  the  liquor  traffic.  It  can  safely 
be  said,  however,  that  there  must  be  two  sides  to  the  question.  It  would 
be  hard  for  the  advocates  of  either  side  of  the  question  to  excuse  of 


TAXATION  WITHOUT  REPRESENTATION. 


NEW   YORK.  1002—100.1. 


pilli;ite  Mayor  Low's  conduct  in  treating  as  he  did  the  delegation  of 
rfprpsAntat  i\ es  of  the  liquor  traffic  who  called  upon  him  in  relation  to 
the  matter.  They  certainly  complained  very  bitterly  of  It,  and  there 
seemed  to  be  a  general  drift  of  public  opinion  in  their  favor. 

The  Mayer's  act.  however,  gave  strong  moral  support 

to  the  promoters  of  the  bill,  which  was  practically  a  State 

steal  of  millions  of  dollars  of  city  money. 
The  Mayor's  support  was  even  more  active  in  Albany.  The  bill  was 
a  ^ener-  i!  State  measure,  and  the  Mayor  had  no  power  to  veto  or  ap- 
prove it,  as  in  the  case  of  a  city  bill,  but  he  did  have  undeniable  in- 
fluence  with  the  boss  of  the  law-makers,  the  Governor,  who  has  abol- 
ished the  lobby  by  taking  the  commercial  control  of  legislation  into  the 
executive  chamber.  He  could  have  made  effective  opposition  to  the 
passage  of  the  provision  reducing  the  city's  proportion  of  the  excise 
□tones  from  two-thirds  to  one-half.  The  Mayor  also  had  a  log-rolling 
connection  with  the  law-making  mill,  on  account  of  his  interest  in 
various  bills  for  Fusion  political  purposes,  but  instead  of  throwing  the 
weight  which,  this  gave  him  against  Odell's  scheme,  he  really  acted  in. 
favor  of  it. 

NEW  YORK  CITY  PAYS  TAXES. 
COUNTRY  COUNTIES  RECEIVE  DIVIDENDS. 
A  very  interesting  letter  treating  upon  the  subject  of  this  unjust  dis- 
crimination between  the  State  and  the  city  in  matters  of  taxation  is 
given  below,  and  is  well  worthy  of  receiving  careful  attention  from  New 
York  property  owners  and  rent  payers: 

"New  York,  Sept.  3,  1903. 

TO  the  Manhattan  Municipal  League. 

"Gentlemen. — I  am  much  gratified  to  see  that  you  have  organized 
for  the  worthy  purposes  stated  in  your  resolution  defining  the  objects 
of  jrostr  association,  and  particularly  to  arouse  opposition  to  the  sub- 
sidizing of  some  counties  at  the  cost  of  the  cities  of  this  State.  I  am 
satisfied  that  an  awakening  of  the  citizens  to  the  gross  injustice  estab- 
lished and  perpetuated  by  the  dominant  party  and  faction  in  power  in 
the  State  and  city  will  eventually  correct  the  evil  existing  and  restore 
a  condition  of  equality  based  upon  exact  justice. 

"When  taxes  are  not  levied  in  good  faith,  as  a  means  of  raising 
necessary  revenue  to  defray  public  charges,  and  are  not  equal  and  rea- 
sonable, but  designed  as  a  forced  contribution  from  one  class  for  the 
benefit  of  another,  we  have  class  legislation  of  the  most  pronounced 
and  vicious  type;  in  a  word,  confiscation,  not  taxation. 

"An  effort  to  introduce  a  new  theory  in  taxation,  adverse  to  the 
general  principle,  that  taxation  must  be  only  for  general  public  revenue 
purposes  of  the  State,  and  not  to  regulate,  affect  or  destroy  any  special 
business  or  property,  would  seem  to  have  some  sanction  in  the  legisla- 
tion lately  enacted. 

"If  universal  suffrage  shall  be  guilty  of  forming  tax  laws,  whether 
imposing  direct  or  indirect  taxation,  in  such  manner  as  to  exempt  any 
class  from  bearing  a  proportionate  and  just  share  of  the  public  bur- 
dens, and  distribute  and  impose  those  burdens,  either  wholly  or  dis- 
proportionately upon  others,  the  result  of  such  injustice  will  react  upon 
the  whole  community. 

•We  have  lately  been  drifting  away  from  old  safeguards  in  taxation 
to  such  an  extent  that  even  those  high  in  authority  assert  that  the  sec- 
tion of  the  State  possessed  of  the  greatest  wealth  should  bear  an  un- 
equal and  unjust  proportion  of  State  taxes  for  the  purpose  of  maintain- 
ing special  State  expenditures. 

"Such  doctrine  would  lead  in  time  to  revolution.,  and  the  very  prin- 
ciple thus  enunciated  has  almost  grown  into  a  statute  by  the  persistent 
action  of  the  State  Board  of  Tax  Commissioners. 

'  Taxes  have  been  aptly  defined  to  be  largely,  if  not  wholly,  sacri- 
fice for  the  public  good,  equality  of  sacrifice  being  the  rule  directed  by 
justice.  Equality,  indeed,  is  inherent  in  the  very  idea  of  a  tax,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  arbitrary  exactions  and  in  many  of  the  States  is 
enjoined  l-y  constitutional  power. 

"So  long  as  the  purpose  is  a  public  one  the  legislative  power  is 
unlimited,  both  as  to  the  extent  of  taxation  and  as  to  the 
manner,  whether  upon  all   the  property  of  a  locality  or  upon  sucto 


c 


NETV   YORK,  1902-1903. 


inly  as  is  benefited,  but  even  if  limited  the  evil  in  our  case  consists, 
not  alone  of  enforcing  laws  unequal  In  themselves,  but  also  by  the  gen- 
eral distribution  to  localities  of  taxes  raised  for  purposes  specifically 
local,  with  the  pretext  that  such  local  purpose  Is  for  the  general  wel- 
fare of  the  State. 

.  "The  principle  violated  is  that  the  State  is  required  to  raise  taxes 
for  other  than  purely  revenue  purposes.  The  impropriety  of  the  State 
injecting  itself  into  local  taxation  affairs  cannot  be  too  strongly  con- 
demnedr 

"It  has  been  truly  said  that  the  true  spirit  of  American  govern- 
ment consists  of  a  decentralized  system,  where  each  local  constituency 
chooses  its  own  officers,  each  road  district,  school  district,  village,  town, 
city  and  county  administers  its  own  affairs,  by  the  people,  for  the 
people. 

"From  a  system  based  upon  the  mere  opinion  of  real  estate  value, 
as  a  means  of  relief  from  the  gross  inequality  prevailing,  this  city  has 
favored  separating  its  system  from  the  equalization  of  the  property  of 
the  counties  and  the  adoption  of  a  system  by  which  the  State  should 
obtain  its  requisite  revenue  by  the  taxation  of  capital.  Such  a  system 
of  actual  cash  value  would  undoubtedly  insure  a  greater  equality.  The 
disposition  of  the  State  to  appropriate  the  whole  of  such  taxes  hap.  as 
we  now  see,  initiated  a  system  in  total  disregard  of  the  rights  of  some 
of  the  counties,  perhaps  as  wrongfully,  if  not  more  so,  than  under  the 
old  system. 

"Having  reviewed  the  fundamental  objection  to  prevailing  condi- 
tions, let  us  revert  to  the  fact  that  in  a  large  number  of  counties  there 
has  been  no  actual  State  tax  whatever.  In  those  counties  hereafter 
specified  it  is  not  a  question  of  what  they  pay  for  the  support  of  the 
State,  but  what  the  State  pays  for  the  support  of  them,  and  it  is  cer- 
tainly true  that  the  greater  the  assessed '  valuation  of  New  York  and 
the  other  populous  counties,  the  greater  the  dividends  which  the  rural 
counties  get  from  the  State;  with  them  it  is  a  matter  not  of  tax  rate, 
but  of  dividend  rate. 

"In  support  of  my  argument  I  find  for  the  year  1901  that  thirty-six 
counties  are  in  the  dividend  column.  A  few  of  the  counties  and  the 
amounts  of  their  dividends  are: 


Cattaraugus 
Chautauqua 

Clinton   

Delaware    . . 


$25,398.69  Jefferson   

25,895.95  Oswego  

29,213.64  St.  Lawrence 

28,200.13  Steuben   


$21,556.43 
19.813.16 
31,863.1S 
24,247.70 


The  others  of  the  thirty-six  counties  in  which  similar  conditions  exist 
are  Allegany,  Broome,  Cayuga,  Chenango,  Cortland.  Essex.  Franklin, 
Greene,  Hamilton,  Herkimer,  Lewis,  Madison.  Oneida.  Ontario.  Orleans, 
Otsego,  Saratoga,  Schoharie,  Schuyler,  Sullivan,  Tioga,  Tompkins.  Uls- 
ter, Warren.  Washington,  Wayne,  Wyoming  and  Yates. 

"Gentlemen,  this  subsidizing  of  counties  has  been  the  policy  of  the 
Republican  party  for  many  years  past,  and  it  has  been  successfully  car- 
ried out  in  the  distribution  of  the  revenue  raised  by  taxation,  in  many 
instances,  but  especially  in  the  distribution  of  the  school  funds.  The 
lately  adopted  "money  system"  in  place  of  the  "labor  system"  for  the 
Improvement  of  the  highways  is  another  response  to  the  demands  of 
these  counties  for  larger  dividends.  The  State  has  appropriated  and 
authorized  about  $400,000  to  be  expended  for  this  purpose  in  1902.  It 
will  incr?ase  to  over  $600,000  this  year,  the  demand  being  for  $1,500,000. 

"These  facts  may  explain  why  the  Governor  and  the  last  Legislature 
have  been  so  anxious  to  raise  revenue  by  new  taxation  methods  in 
amounts  more  than  sufficient  for  the  ordinary  expenditures  of  the  State 
government.  » 

"Permit  me  to  surmise  the  argument  of  the  Governor  in  the  Repub- 
lican caucus  held  on  the  excise  and  mortgage  tax  question,  in  which 
this  item  is  presented  to  the  county  representatives,  and  then  please 
understand  the  unanimity  of  the  legislators  to  vote  for  such  measures, 
especially  as  the  State  money  thus  appropriated  is  to  be  expended  by 
the  town  boards,  with  but  slight  supervision  over  them. 

"We  cannot  be  free  from  alarm  when  even  the  State  Comptroller. 
In  his  report  for  1903.  M*arns  us  that  'the  large  and  constantly  Increasing 
contributions  this  statute  will  require  of  the  State,  natural!}  siiKg»'sta 


NEW    YORK.  190C-1003. 


7 


the  query  whether  there  should  be  some  State  supervision  relative  to 
this  expenditure.' 

"It  can  be  safely  stated  that  the  counties  comprising  Greater  New 
York,  with  Albany,  Erie,  Monroe  and  Onondaga,  are  now  paying  about 
ninety  per  cent  of  the  State  taxes,  the  cities  of  New  York  and  Buffalo 
about  eighty  per  cent  of  the  whole. 

"Is  this  anything  less  than  wholesale  bribery,  under  the  form  of 
law,  of  the  electorate  of  this  State?  And  is  it  not  just  this  policy  that 
is  continually  antagonizing  the  other  counties  against  the  cities? 

"The  policy  that  uses  the  law  as  a  system  to  relieve  one  part  of 
the  State  (and  this  applies  equally  to  the  city)  to  the  detriment  and  at 
the  expense  of  the  other  must  be  condemned  in  unmeasured  terms  if  we 
intend  to  maintain  equal  rights. 

The  Governor  In  his  address  to  the  people  of  the  Dutchess  County 
Fair,  on  the  second  instant,  to  sustain  his  tax  measures,  made  the  claim 
that  a  saving  of  $6,000,000  to  this  city  has  been  effected.  If  he  means 
thereby  that  this  city  is  now  paying  $6,000,000  less  both  by  way  of  direct 
and  indirect  taxes  than  theretofore,  his  statement  is  and  must  be  untrue. 
If  our  percentage  of  total  taxes  was  under  the  direct  system  67  per 
cent,  it  is  now  and  will  be  80. per  cent,  under  the  present  condition.  In 
addition,  by  mandatory  legislation,  including  the  act  of  consolidation  or 
charter  of  this  city,  the  territory  which  comprised  the  old  City  of  New 
York  has  paid  since  1898  more  than  $50,000,000  a  year,  under  laws  which 
were  passed  in  opposition  to  the  unanimous' vote  of  the  Democratic  rep- 
resentatives of  that  territory.  It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  Mayor 
Low  and  his  Republican  reform  associates  in  the  Charter  Revision  Com- 
mission appointed  by  a  Republican  Governor  and  the  Legislature,  were 
the  immediate  and  direct  cause  of  this  extraordinary  expenditure. 

Yours  respectfully. 

THOMAS  L.  FEITNER." 


(From  the  Sun.) 
AMEN. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Sun — Sir:  James  B.  Reynolds,  secretary  to 
Mayor  Low,  in  addressing  the  Citizens'  Union  of  Brooklyn  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  7th  inst..  let  fall  this  gem  of  thought: 

"The  administration  has  done  as  well  as  it  could." 

Amen!   And  so  say  we  all!  CHOPPER. 

New  York,  February  9. 


BOSS  CUTTING  EXPOSED. 


Pretending  to  Non-Partisanship  When  His  Business  Interests 
Are  Bound  Up  in  Republican  Success. 

The  most  colossal  humbug  in  the  "Fusion"  campaign  and  at  the 
same  time  the  one  which  is  most  obvious  and  transparent  is  the  non- 
partisanship  pretense  of  Boss  R.  Fulton  Cutting.  He  is  the  head  and 
front  of  the  "Fusion"  movement  and  is  the  most  extravagant  in  his 
protestations  of  the  utter  absence  af  partisanship  in  his  interest  in  the 
candidacy  of  Mayor  Low.  This  interest  is  not  merely  a  matter  of  the 
campaign  season.  It  was  shown  and  has  distinguished  him  all  Summer. 
He  was  almost  as  early  in  the  field  with  the  announcement  that  Low 
must  be  the  candidate  as  Governor  Odell  himself. 

The  exact  flavor  of  his  non-partisanship  and  the  full 
degree  of  his  sincerity  in  these  protestations  will  be  appre- 
ciated when  it  is  recalled  that  he  is  a  large  stockholder 
and  heavily  interested  in  the  American  Beet  Root  Sugar 
Company. 


8  NEW   YORK,  1902-1003. 

His  brother,  W.  Bayard  Cutting,  also  an  enthusiastic  "Fusionist" 
and  professor  of  non-partisanship,  is  the  chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  of  that  colossal  trust. 

BEET  SUGAR  NEEDS  PROTECTION. 
The  record  of  the  last  Congress  proves  that  it  is  vital  to  Cutting's 
Beet  Root  Sugar  Company  to  secure  the  re-election  of  Roosevelt  and  a 
Republican  Congress  next  year.  In  view  of  this  fact  the  character  of 
his  protestations  of  non-partisanship  is  plain.  They  were  clearly  hypo- 
critical shams. 

The  pecuniary  interests  of  the  American  Beet  Root 
Sugar  Company  require  the  election  of  a  Mayor  in  New 
York  City  who  will  pave  the  way  for  Republican  success 
next  year  in  the  national  campaign. 

That  Low  is  the  candidate  relied  upon  to  do  this  is  evident 
from  the  nature  of  the  methods  employed  to  bring  about  his  nomination. 
Despite  the  attitude  of  the  Independent  Democrats,  and  despite  the 
foundation  sentiment  against  it  in  the  great  body  of  the  membership 
of  the  Citizens'  Union,  the  renomination  of  Low  was  insisted  on  by  the 
Republican  machine  and  by  Boss  Cutting,  its  ally  In  political  and 
business  interests. 

Cutting's  Beet  Root  Sugar  Company  maintains  in  Washington  a 
powerful  lobby.  Its  agent,  Oxnard,  and  his  operations,  were  notorious 
during  the  last  session.  This  lobby  went  to  the  length  of  opposing  vig- 
orously the  reciprocity  treaty  with  Cuba,  and  it  was  to  the  obstructive 
tactics  of  the  opposition  to  this  treaty  that  the  necessity  for  the  extra 
session  of  this  Fall  can  be  attributed. 

In  this  connection  it  might  not  be  out  of  place  to  note 

that  the  opposition  to  the  Beet  Sugar  Legislative  con-         .  ; 

spiracy  was  vigorousJy  led  on  the  floor  of  Congress  by 

Representative  George  B.  McCleHan 
The  creditable  and  effective  manner  in  wliich  he  conducted  the  op- 
position, as  a  Democrat,  might  perhaps  be  urged  by  .  some  confiding 
"Fusionists"  as  additional  testimony  to  the  good  faith  of  Mr.  Cutting's 
protestations  to  non-partisanship  in  this  Mayoralty  campaign. 

The  interest  of  the  American  Beet  Root  Sugar  Company  in  national 
legislation  is  right  along  the  lines  of  the  Republican  policy  of  protect- 
ing favored  industries.  The  sugar  differential  is  a  matter  of  the  most 
vital  importance  to  the  beet  root  sugar  men.  At  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  stockholders  of  the  Trust  in  Jersey  City  last  April,  Chajrman  Cut- 
ting, in  his  annual  report,  roamed  over  the  face  of  the  globe  in  the 
consideration  of  every  topic  affecting  to  the  fraction  of  a  mill  the 
cost  of  producing  a  pound  of  sugar.  He  had  considerable  to  say  about 
the  abolition  of  the  sugar  bounties  recently  adopted  by  the  Brussels 
Conference  and  touched  very  interestingly  upon  the  rep'ort  that  there 


THE  BEET  ROOT  SUGAR  BOSS. 

No  primaries,  no  district  conventions,  no  petitions  or 
any  such  machinery  is  required  by  Boss  Cutting  to  assist 
him  in  nominating  a  ticket  to  the  voters  of  New  York.  He 
calls  together  a  gathering  of  the  faithful,  calls  it  a  city  con- 
vention and  tells  it  what  to  do. 

In  fact,  he  tells  everybody  what  to  do.  and  sometimes 
it  Is  done  as  he  says.  He  is  telling  the  people  now  that 
they  must  elect  Low,  but  they  will  not  do  it. 

The  Cutting  pretense  of  non-partianship  has  been  ex- 
posed. His  beet-sugar  interests  require  the  election  of  a 
Republican  President  and  a  Republican  Congress  next  year, 
and  he  thinks  that  It  will  help  in  thai  direction  to  elect  a 
Republican  Mayor  this  Fall. 

The  people  think  so,  too,  and  that's  what's  the  matter 
with  Low. 


NEW   YORK,  1002-1903. 


0 


THE  BIGGEST  BOSS. 


10 


NEW   YORK.  1*01-1003. 


Would  be  a  reduction  of  best  acreage  planted  in  Europe  which  would 
make  a  difference  of  12y2  per  cent  in  this  year's  crop,  or  about  800.000 
tons,  but  he  did  not  enlighten  the  directors,  and  through  them  the 
public  upon  the  legislative  campaign  or  the  attitude  of  the  company  in 
the  matter  of  the  sugar  differential.  While  he  made  a  comforting  state- 
ment that  he  believed  that  his  trust  would  make  the  refined  product 
more  cheaply  than  any  other  beet  sugar  factories  in  the  United  States 
and,  therefore,  below  the  cost  of  granulated  sugar  made  from  the 
imported  raws,  his  company  will  be  just  as  much  interested  in  the 
coming  session  of  Congress  in  seeing  that  the  duty  on  imported  raws  is 
not  reduced.  That  would  interfere  with  the  profits  of  the  American 
Beet  Root  Sugar  Company. 


THE  WISE  HAYSEED  AND  THE  FOOLISH  CITIZENS. 


In  a  great  city  there  once  lived  a  elass  of  people  who  were  lovers  of 
Personal  Liberty — who  had  suffered  much  because  they  had  the  courage 
of  their  convictions.  Although  they  had  not  .the  full  measure  of  the 
social  freedom  which  they  desired,  they  did  not  grumble.  What  they 
suffered  was  due  to  the  narrow  mindedness  and  bigotry  of  some  country 
neighbors  who  followed  the  pursuits  of  agriculture  and  husbandry,  and 
sold  their  produce  to  the  lovers  of  Personal  Liberty.  Yet  did  this  sect, 
who  were  peculiar,  and  who  wore  greased  boots,  weather-beaten  hats 
and  ancient  garb,  and  who  never  shaved  or  cut  their  hair,  and  were 
irreverently  called  Hayseeds,  assume  to  make  laws  for  the  Personal 
Liberty  class;  and,  indeed,  for  everybody  over  whom  they  could  rule. 
Now,  it  came  to  pass  that  there  were  many  things  in  the  great  city 
which  the  Hayseeds  coveted— including  piers  for  their  barges  and  other 
privileges  which  belonged  to  the  lovers  of  Personal  Liberty.  And  a 
candidate  for  big  chief  devised  a  scheme  by  which  he  could  cunningly 
ensnare  these  good  things  for  his  people.  He  approached  the  lovers 
of  Personal  Liberty  with  honeyed  words  and,  declaring  that  he  was  their 
friend,  promised  them  the  greater  measure  of  Personal  Liberty  which 
they  longed  for;  because  they  hated  hypocrisy  and  deceit.  Hitherto 
they  had  been  more  or  less  contented,  and  minded  their  own  business 
but  now  they  gave  ear  to  a  humbug  neighbor  known  as  Smooth  Seth. 
who  induced  them  to  believe  that  he  could  prevail  upon  the  Hayseeds 
to  make  more  liberal  laws.  They  delegated  Smooth  Seth  to  represent 
them.  Having  done  this  they  went  on  their  way  rejoicing,  saying 
that  they  would  no  more  be  persecuted,  and  would  indeed  be  really  free 
to  follow  their  own  custom  of  living.  And  they  paused  for  results.  But 
after  the  Hayseeds  had  taken  piers  for  their  barges,  and  enacted  laws 
favorable  to  themselves  alone,  they  spoke  no  more  to  the  lovers  of 
Personal  Liberty,  but  closed  the  doors  of  their  houses  to  them.  Indeed, 
they  began  to  further  oppress  the  lovers  of  Personal  Liberty.  Laws 
were  made  to  compel  the  people  in  the  great  city  to  pay  nearly  all  the 
taxes  of  the  class  called  Hayseeds;  and  many  lovers  of  Personal  Liberty 
were  ruined  and  lost  even  the  little  which  they  had.  When  they 
protested  the  Hayseeds  only  laughed  at  them,  and  replied:  "Oh  what 
a  simple  people;  you  sing,  'Back  to  the  woods*  to  us;  but  it  is  you  who 
should  retire  to  the  tall  timbers.  We  Hayseeds  have  always  been  guile- 
leas  innocents,  seeking  only  to  do  you  people  and  do  you  good."  And  no 
more  privileges  did  the  lovers  of  Personal  Liberty  get.  "Verily  we  have 
been  burnswoggled,"  said  they;  "but  the  shame  is  not  for  us,  "ftut  for 
the  cheap  Humbug  who  cunningly  appealed  to  our  love  of  Personal 
Liberty.  He  who  deceives  us  once,  shame  on  him;  but  it  is  no  shame 
for  us  until  we  have  burn  defrau.lrd  a  second  time.  It  is.  written  that 
he  who  laughs  last  laughs  best. 


Democracy  Is  the  hope  of  the  people  and  the  only  agency  of  real 
reform. 


NEW   YORK.  1002-1903. 


11 


FUSION  DISPROVES 

ITS  OWN  CHARGES 

Campaign  Slander  Refuted  by  the  Record  of  "Fusion"  Financiering. 
Charges  of  Democratic  Extravagance  and  Corruption  Refuted  by 
"Fusion's"  Appropriations  Under  Professions  of  Every 
Economy — They  Lied  Then  or  They  Are  Extravagant 
and  Corrupt  Now — Compiled  from  the  Records 
and  Minutes  of  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Ap- 
portionment and  Board  of  Aldermen  and 
from  the  Comptroller's  Reports, 


COMPARISON  OF  BUDGETS  FOR  1901,  1902,  1903.    THE  TEAR  1901 
BEING  THE  LAST  YEAR  OF  MAYOR  VAN  WYCK'S  AND 
THE  LATTER  THE  LAST  YEAR  OF  MAYOR 
LOW'S  ADMINISTRATION. 

Increase 

1901.  1902.  1903.       1903  over  1901. 

Appropriated  for  De- 
partments, Bureaus, 
Courts,  Charitable 
Institutions  and  all 
City  and  County  pur- 
poses   $91,141,376.31    $94,104,091.59    $96,56S,873.S2  $5,427,497.51 

For  State  Taxes   6,959,037.12      4,515,509.29  550,157.28 


Total    Budgets          $98,100,413.43    $98,619,600.SS  $97,119,031.10 

By  reference  to  the  table  it  will  be  seen  that  the  following  amounts 
were  included  yearly  in  each  budget  for  State  taxes,  viz: 

State  taxes  for  1901   $6,959,037.12 

State  taxes  for  1902   4,515,509.29 

State  taxes  for  1903   550,157.28 

that  there  was  included  in  the  budget  of  1901,  the  last  year  of  the 
Van  Wyck  administration,  $6,4CS,879.84  more  State  taxes  than  in  1903, 
the  last  year  of  Mayor  Low's  administration,  making  the  total  budget 
each  year  as  follows,  viz: 

Year   1901   $98,100,413.43 

Year   1902   98,619,600.88 

Year  1903    97,119,031.10 

In  other  words  if  the  same  amount  appropriated  for  State  taxes  in 
1901,  the  last  year  of  Mayor  Van  Wyck's  term,  amounting  to  $6,959,037.12, 
be  included  in  each  of  the  budgets  for  1902  and  1903,  made  by  Mayor 
Low,  the  budgets  would  show  as  follows,  viz: 

Year  1901,  Mayor  Van  Wyck's  last  year  $9S,100,413.43 

Year  1902,  Mayor  Low's  budget   101,063,128.71 

Year  1903,  Mayor  Low's  last  budget   103,527,910.94 

So  that  there  was  actually  appropriated  to  run  the  city 
government  in  1903,  the  last  year  of  Mayor  Low's  term  of 
office,  $5,427,497.51  more  than  was  appropriated  for  1901, 
the  last  year  of  Mayor  Van  Wyck's  term  of  office. 
Although  the  Fusion  candidates  in  the  Mayoralty  campaign  of  1901 
claimed  that  of  the  ninety-eight  millions  appropriated  for  the  last  year  of 
Jdayor  Van  Wyck's  term,  there  was  over  twenty  million  dollars  stolen. 


12 


NEW   YORK.  1002-1903. 


6y  padded  pay  rolls,  dead  men's  names  on  same  and  otherwise,  yet  for 
the  last  year  of  Mayor  Low's  administration  the  budget  for  all  city 
and  county  purposes  is  over  five  and  one-half  million  dollars  greater 
than  the  budget  for  the  same  purposes  during  the  last  year  of  Mayor 
Van  Wyck's  term. 

It  follows  that  this  contention  of  the  Fusion  candidates  in  1901  was 
absolutely  false  or  else  that  under  Mayor  Low's  administration  there 
is  over  twenty-five  million  dollars  stolen. 

COMPARISON. 

Comparing  the  amounts  appropriated  for  salaries,  services  and 
labor  of  every  description,  in  1903,  by  the  Republican  Low  administra- 
tion, with  the  year  1901,  the  last  year  of  the  Democratic  Van  Wyck 
administration. 

TAKEN  FROM  THE  DEPARTMENTAL  ESTIMATES. 
Under  the   REPUBLICAN   ADMINISTRATION   OF  1903, 


there  was  appropriated  for  salaries,  services  and  labor 

of  every  description,  not  less  than   $49,299,271.97 

Under   the   DEMOCRATIC   ADMINISTRATION   OF  1901, 
there  was  paid  for  salaries,  services  and  labor  of  every  > 
description    $45,656,008.77 

An  increase  for  the  benefit  of  Republican  office  holders  of...  3,643,263.20 


COMPARATIVE    TABLE.— STOCKS   AND   BONDS  "AUTHORIZED'* 
BY  THE  REPUBLICAN  LOW  ADMINISTRATION  AND  COM- 
PARED WITH  THE  DEMOCRATIC  VAN  WYCK  AD- 
MINISTRATION COMPILED  FROM  THE  MIN- 
UTES OF  THE  BOARD  OF  ESTIMATE  AND 
OF  THE  BOARD  OF  ALDERMEN. 
AVERAGE  STOCK  AND  BONDS  AUTHORIZED  PER  YEAR: 


Republican  Low  administration,  1902  and  1903  $60,000,000.00 

Democratic  Van  Wyck  administration,  1898,  1899,  1900,  1901...  26.000.000.00 


Average  increase  Republican  Low  administration  $34,000,000.00 

or  133  per  cent. 


COMPARATIVE  TABLE.— STOCKS  AND  BONDS  "ISSUED"  UNDER 
DEMOCRATIC  ADMINISTRATIONS  AS  COMPARED  WITH 

REPUBLICAN  ADMINISTRATONS. 
Comparing  the  last  three  Democratic  administrations  with  the  last 
two  Republican  administrations. 

AVERAGE  STOCKS  AND   BONDS   ISSUED   PER  YEAR. 
CITY  OF  NEW  YORK  AS  NOW  CONSTITUTED: 


Low  Republican  administration,  1902,  3903  $34,600,000.00 

Van  Wyck  Democratic  administration,  1898,  1899,  1900,  1901...  29.300.000.00 

*    Increase  per  year  under  Republican  administration   $5,300,000.00 

or  18  per  cent. 

OLD  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK. 

Strong  Republican  administration.  1895,  1896,  1897  $23,457,000.00 

Gilroy  Democratic  administration,  1893,  1894   11.819,000.00 


Increase  per  year  under  Republican  administration  $11,638,000.00 

or  an  increase  of  nearly  100  per  cent. 

Strong  Republican  Administration,  1895,  1896,  1897  $23,457,000.00 

Grant  Democratic  administration,  1889,  1890,  1891,  1892   10.971.000.00 

Increase  per  year  under  Republican  administration  $12,485,000. 09 

OK  114  per  cent. 


CAMPAIGN  SLANDERS  REFUTED. 
Tt  will  be  s-en  by  the  tables  given  above  that  the  campaign  slanders 
to  the  effect  that  the  administration  in  the  first  four  years  of  the  history 
of  Greater  New  York  was  extiavagant  and  corrupt  were  baseless,  out- 
rageous and  ir  justifiable.  In  iaet,  it  will  be  remembered  that  no  effort 
was  made  at  I  he  time  to  show  any  foundation  for  the  reckless  ass.-r- 
t,,,ns  it   v.-h.s  rn.-relj    urged  that   th"  amount  <>f  the  annual  appro- 


NEW   YORK.  1902-1903. 


13 


priations.  then  $98,000,000,  was  prima  facie  evidence  that  the  management 
of  the  municipal  affairs  was  extravagant  and  that  the  city  was  being 
robbed. 

The  record  made  by  the  administration  which  stole  into  office  on 
that  false  cry  has  utterly  dissipated  and  refuted  this  charge,  which 
It  now  seems  could  never  have  been  made  in  good  faith.  In  every  year 
since  there  has  been  an  increase  in  the  appropriations  for  actual  city 
purposes  and  the  amounts  asked  for  for  the  coming  year  show  propor- 
tionately even  a  larger  increase. 

"FUSION"  TAX  RATE,  A  FAKE. 

The  Fusion  administration's  claim  that  their  tax  rate  of  1.41  for  this 
year  represents  a  sweeping  reduction  in  the  taxes  that  the  people  will 
have  to  pay  is  another  piece  of  false  pretense.  This  rate  was  reached 
by  a  series  of  juggling  tricks  with  the  finances  of  the  city.  In  the  first 
place  the  so-called  full  valuation  appraisement  for  the  purposes  of  tax- 
ation increased  the  valuation  of  the  real  estate  in  the  city  by  $14,000,- 
000,000.  That,  in  itself,  would  make  a  difference  of  about  one-third  of  the 
previous  rate;  but  this,  it  is  very  plainly  seen,  would  not  mean  a  reduc- 
tion of  taxation  when  the  amount  to  be  expended  is  not  reduced;  and 
there  is  no  reduction,  as  is  already  shown,  in  the  amount  to  be  ex- 
pended. This  increased  valuation  has  been  supplemented  by  a  system 
of  encouraging  the  departments  to  allow  deficiencies  to  accrue  in  various 
directions,  which  deficiencies  will  have  to  be  made  up  in  next  year  s 
budget. 

A  further  development  of  this  scheme  to  make  an  apparently  low 
tax  rate  for  this  campaign  year  is  found  in  the  attack  made  upon  the 
sinking  fund.  In  utter  defiance  of  any  principle  of  law  or  morals  a  raid 
has  been  made  upon  these  savings  of  the  city,  pledged  asx  they  are  to 
the  redemption  of  the  bonds  of  the  city.  This  item  alone  takes  $8,500,000 
out  of  the  budget  and  out  of  the  amount  to  be  raised  by  direct  taxation 
this  year,  though  this  is  done  at  the  expense  of  the  city's  obligations 
in  other  directions.  One  other  quarter  has  been  invaded  to  make  this 
apparent  reduction  in  the  tax  rate  possible,  and  that  is  an  unexampled 
depletion  of  the  general  fund,  which  will  have  the  result  of  making  it 
impossible  for  the  city  officials  next  year  to  get  any  help  from  that 
source  whatever. 

All  of  this  means  that  a  forced  tax  rate  too  small  for 
the  real  requirements  of  the  "Fusion"  administration's  offi- 
cials has  been  made  for  campaign  purposes,  with  the  re- 
sult that  next  year's  rate  must  necessarily  be  greatly  in- 
creased. This  increase,  together  with  the  requirements  for 
interest  on  the  bonds  to  be  issued  under  the  stimulus  to 
extravagance  of  raising  the  city's  debt  limit  by  $140.- 
000,000,  will  ncessarily  make  a  difference  of  more  than  20 
points  in  the  next  year's  tax  rate. 


CHOPPER  ADMIRES  "REFORM." 
(From  the  Sun.) 
REFORM. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Sun— Sir:  Let  me  get  on  the  record  a  bit  of 
Reform  economy  that  has  escaped  the  vigilance  of  the  Comptroller's 
press  bureau. 

A  few  days  since  a  tyro  in  Reform  and  a  lion  in  gravity  was  seen 
dashing  in  and  out  of  the  offices  of  the  Finance  Department  and  peering 
into  the  water  coolers.  He  then  returned  to  the  main  office  and  began 
to  fume  and  rave!  And  what  do  you  suppose  it  was  all  about?  He 
found  that  the  ice  bill  for  January  equalled  that  of  September.  The  ice 
supply  has  been  cut  one-third,  with  a  saving  of  30  cents  a  day  to  the 
city. 

If  the  Mayor's  secretary  is  to  enlighten  us  on  the  latent  "beauties  ' 
of  Reform,  let  him  match  this,  if  he  can.  CHOPPER. 
February  10. 


Democracy  is  ihe  hope  of  the  yeople  and  the  only  agency  of  real 
reform. 


14 


NEW   YORK,  1902—1903. 


Half  Time  Classes 


The  most  sacred  promises  of  the  "Fusion"  compaign  of 
190i  were  that  seats  would  be  provided  in  full  time  classes 
for  all  the  children  ofNe%  York. 

The  "Fusion"  literature  of  this  campaign  of  J 903 
falsely  claims  this  promise  has  Been  kept. 

The  neglect  of  School  provision  and  the  consequent 
crowding  out  of  pupils  has  increased  steadily  under 
"Fusion"  until  the  appalling  result  has  been  reached  that 
the  above  figures  show. 


FOR 


(Official  Figures,  Sept  25,  1903.) 


THE  PEOPLE  DO  NOT  FORGET. 


16  NEW   YORK,  1902-1903. 


FUSION"  AND  THE  SCHOOLS. 


A  Record  of  Neglect  and  Extravagance,  with  Attacks  on  the 
Ground  Work  and  Foundation  of  the  System — The 
Truth  Against  Citizens'  Union  False  Claims. 

"The  total  number  of  New  York  children  reduced  to 
'half  time'  in  the  public  schools  this  year  is  87,557." — 
Statement  officially  made,  Sept.  26,  1903. 

The  "Fusion"  administration  has  made  a  great  impression  upon  the 
public  school  system,  but  its  "progress"  has  been  in  a  direction  away 
from  the  second,  substantial  standards  of  the  past. 

The  Low-Maxwell-Columbia  College  administration  of  school  affairs 
has  distinguished  itself  by  adding  two  whole  years  to  the  age  of  the 
pupils  graduated  from  the  regular  common  school  course.  This  adds 
thousands  to  the  number  of  children  of  the  poor  and  middle  classes  who 
will  be  unable  to  complete  the  course. 

The  Low-Maxwell-Columbia  College  administration  of  the  school  af- 
fairs has  incessantly  attacked  the  New  York  Normal  College,  the  only 
avenue  through  which  the  children  of  the  people  of  this  city  can  be  fitted 
for  positions  as  school  teachers. 

The  Low-Maxwell-Columbia  College  administration  of  school  affairs 
has  also  failed  utterly  to  keep  the  promises  of  the  Fusion  campaign  to 
provide  seating  capacity  for  all  the  children  of  school  age  in  the  city, 
despite  the  fact  that  by  increasing  the  age  of  beginners  from  five  years 
to  six  years  they  have  thus  eliminated  from  their  statistics  thousands 
of  children  formerly  reckoned  as  of  school  age. 

The  Low-Maxwell-Columbia  College  administration  of 
school  affairs  is  responsible  for  the  disgraceful  record, 
never  before  approached,  of  being  unable  to  furnish  all 
the  children,  even  in  the  third  grade,  with  seats  in  full 
time  classes. 

In  spite  of  this  failure,  on  Monday,  September  14,  the  very  day  when 
thousands  of  children  were  forced  to  return  home  and  report  that  they 
were  unable  to  secure  seats  in  the  schools,  the  publicity  department  of 
the  Citizens'  Union  circulated  the  false  claim  that  all  children  had  been 
provided  for.  With  this  claim  misleading  details  were  given  as  to  the 
expenditures  of  the  Fusion  administration  for  school  purposes  as  com- 
pared with  those  -of  the  previous  Democratic  administration.  In  this 
statement  the  Fusion  officers  were  given  credit  for  spending  several 
millions  of  dollars,  the  provision  for  which  was  really  due  to  the  fore- 
thought and  public  spirit  of  the  previous  Democratic  administration. 

DEMOCRATIC  LIBERALITY  TO  SCHOOLS. 

The,  comparison  between  the  two  administrations,  if  made  in  good 
faith,  should  show  the  action  of  each  in  the  matter  of  initiating  appro- 
priations and  proceedings  for  sjchool  sites,  school  buildings  and  school 
additions.  Measured  by  this  logical  and  accurate  standard,  the  records 
of  the  Beard  of  Estimate  and  Board  of  Education  prove  that  the  Dem- 
ocratic administration  was  three  times  as  careful  of  its  duty  to  the 
people  in  providing  educational  facilities. 

The  Democratic  administration,  confronted  with  the  task  of  organ- 
ising the  consolidated  city,  was  unable  in  the  first  year  to  disentangle 
the  complex  financial  problems  presented  by  the  confusion  of  bond  issues 
in  the  various  boroughs.  The  constitutional  debt  limit  made  it  necessary 
to  hold  up  all  bond  issues  until  the  financial  situation  was  fully  cleared 
up.  By  surmounting  difficulties,  the  gravity  of  which  outsiders  can 
hardly  conceive,  the  city's  financial  machinery  was  put  in  good  working 
order  in  the  early  part  of  1899.  Attention  was  then  promptly  given  to  th* 


NEW   YORK.  1902-1903. 


17 


important  educational  question,  and  the  following  is  the  record  of  the 
provision  for  additional  school  accommodations  made  by  the  Democratic 
administration  in  office  from  1898  to  1902:  , 

MANHATTAN  AND  THE  BRONX. 
Date.  Sites.    Buildings.  Additions. 

March  7,  1899   3 

March  17,  1899   2 

March  30,  1899   3  # 

April  21,  1899   1  1 

May  3,  1899   9 

June  8,  1899   2 

June  13,  1899   1 

July  31,  1899   1 

November  29,  1899   1  2 

February  1,  1900   1 

August  21,  1900   2 

October  5,  1900.  .   1 

October  12,  1900   1 

November  21,  1900   1 

December  11,  1900   2 

January  18,  1901   1 

March  8,  1901  J.  1 

April  10,  1901   4-  1 

June  13,  1901   1 

June  20,  1901   3 

July  17,  1901  ;.  2  1 

July  13,  1901   2 

October  1,  1901   3 

November  20,  1901   1 

December  19,  1901   1 

BROOKLYN. 

Date.  Sites.    Buildings.  Additions. 

April  2,  1899   2 

May  17,  1899   1  1 

June  29,  1899   2 

July  31,  1899   2 

November  29,  1899   1 

December  28,  1899   2 

February  1,  1900   1 

March  6,  1900   1 

April  20,  1900. ............. !   1 

June  6,  1900   1 

June  27,  1900   1 

August  21,  1900   2 

October  12,  1900   1 

December  11,  1900   1 

January  18,  1901   i 

February  7,  1901   1 

March  8,  1901   6 

March  14,  190J   4 

April  10,  1901   2 

July  17,  1901   2 

October  15,  1901   4 

November  20,  1901   1 

December  19,  1901   2 

QUEENS. 

Date.  Sites.    Buildings.  Additions. 

March  7,  1899   Appropriations 

to  complete 
erection  of 

July  31,  1899....   2         ^ree  schools. 

September  7,  1899   1 

October  5,  1899   1  'rfs- 

December  28,  1899   1 

January  16,  1900   1 

January  16.  1900   A  special  sites 


13  RB.W    YORK.  1002-1003. 

nppropriation 
of  $92,690. 

February  t,  lf>00   1 

March  C,  1900...*   1 

July  24,  1900   Appropriations 

to  complete 
three  school 
buildings. 

October  12.  19C0....»   4 

December  27,  1900  :  Appropriations 

to  complete 
one  school. 

July    31.   1901   3 

November  14,  1901  Large 

school 
addition. 

RICHMOND. 

Date.  Sites.    Buildings.  Additions. 

July  13,  1S9D   ?. 

October  30,  1893   2 

December  28,  1899   1  1 

January  16.  1900   1 

March  6.  1900   1 

October  12,  1900   Additional 

appropriation 
for  one  site. 

July  13,  1901   1 

October  30.  1901   1 

TOTALS  DURING  THE  DEMOCRATIC  ADMINISTRATION. 

Manhattan  and  Bronx. 

School  Sites  33 

School  Buildings  13 

School  Additions   .7 

Brooklyn. 

School  Sites  22 

School  Buildings  16 

School  Additions   5 

Queens. 

School  Sites  -   9 

School  Buildings  3 

Additions  and  Completions  ,  11 

Besides  a  special  sites  appropriation  of  $92,69C  for 
Queens  on  January  10,  1900. 

Richmond. 

School  Sites   5 

School  Buildings   2 

School  Additions  3 

GRAND  TOTAL  FOR  DEMOCRATIC  ADMINISTRATION: 

School  Sites  69 

School  Buildings    34 

School  Additions  26 

"FUSION'S"  NEGLECT  SCHOOL  INCREASE. 
The  "Fusion"  administration  found  the  city  government  in  running 
order,  the  debt  limit  at  a  comfortable  distance  removed,  and  It  has  since 
added  $140,000,000  to  the  city's  borrowing  capacity.    By  its  new  system 
of  accounts  no  separate  statement  of  school  appropriations  by  Boroughs 
is  available;  but  its  whole  record  for  the  greater  city  is  as  follows: 
GREATER  NEW  YORK. 
Date.  Sites.  Buildings.  Additions. 

January  21.  1902   1  1 

February  14,  1902   1 

June  6.  1902   2 

June  29,  1902  «  S 


NEW   YORK,  1902-1903. 


13 


July  1,  1902  , 

August  21,  1902  

September  5,  1902.. 
September  26,  1902 
October  23,  1902.... 
November  28,  1902 
January  9,  1903... 


I 


1 


1 


3 
1 
1 


3 

(Entered  as  "gen- 
eral construction.") 


February  13,  1903 


TOTAL  FOR  ALL  THE  BOROUGHS. 


School  Sites.  . .  . 
School  Buildings 
School  Additions 


11 
7 
.  1 


The  comparison  which  suggests  itself  is  to  consider  each  of  these 
operations  as  a  unit  and  take  the  aggregates.  The  Democratic  adminis- 
tration's record  is  of  129  operations  for  the  extension  of  school  facili- 
ties. The  Fusion  administration  record  is  19.  The  periods  in  which  a 
fair  comparison  can  be  made  are  respectively  34  months  and  20  months, 
as  the  records  are  only  available  up  to  September  1.  Comparatively 
stated  then  the  record  proves  that  in  about  four-sevenths  of  the  time 
the  Fusion  administration  made  less  than  one-sixth  of  the  same  amount 
cf  provision.  To  emphasize  the  comparison  it  may  be  noted  that  the 
Fusion  administration  has  done  little  more  in  the  way  of  originating 
public  school  improvements  for  the  whole  of  Greater  New  York  than 
the  preceding  Democratic  administration  did  for  Queens  Borough  alone. 
Much  work  originated,  as  shown,  under  the  Democratic  administration 
was  completed  under  the  present  administration,  and  this  explains  the 
avidity  with  which  the  Citizens'  Union  statisticians  call  attention  to  the 
amount  of  expenditures  made  by  the  incumbent  officials. 

CROWDING  OUT  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL  WORK. 
The  greatest  injury  done  to  the  school  system  of  this  city  by  the 
"Fusion"  administration  arises  from  the  fundamental  difference  between 
that  ^administration  and  others.  Mayor  Low's  appointees  in  administra- 
tive positions  do  not  represent  the  people  and  are  not  in  accord  with 
popular  sentiment.  They  are  distinctively  representative  of  the  classes 
and  are  aristocrats.  In  the  educational  matters  this  has  resulted  so  that 
our  schools  have  been  treated  entirely  from  the  Columbia  College  stand- 
point. The  whole  effort  has  been  in  the  direction  of  special  work  and 
higher  grade  courses  suitable  for  the  few  who  desire  to  fit  themselves 
for  college. 

The  needs  of  the  vast  majority  who  never  go  beyond 
the  grammar  school  course  have  been  neglected.  Worse 
than  this,  the  facilities  for  younger  children,  the  majority 
of  whom  will  enjoy  few  school  years,  are  most  inadequate. 
Beginning  by  shutting  them  out  an  additional  year  this 
administration  has  allowed  the  number  of  children  that 
can  only  get  into  half  time  classes  to  increase  enormously. 
In  September,  1902,  the  number  was  78,000.    The  natural  increase  is 
26,000  a  year.  The  provision  to  increase  accommodations  planned  for  the 
year  was  only  16,000;  but  delays  occurred  to  prevent  these  plans  from  be- 
ing carried  out.  To  a  slight  extent  the  building  strike  made  delays  inevit- 
able, and  that  excuse  nas  been  seized  upon  by  the  Fusion  officials  to 
explain  the  fact  that  about  90.000  pupils  have  to  be  content  with  half 
time  class  accommodations. 

The  responsibility  for  this  failure  to  carry  out  Fusion  campaign  prom- 
ises rests  with  the  Fusion  Mayor  and  his  cabinet  officers  in  the  Board 
of  Estimate. 

It  is  vociferously  claimed  by  the  Citizens'  Union  publicity  department 
of  the  Fusion  party  that  Mayor  Low's  administration  has  been  liberal 
in  the  matter  of  appropriations  for  school  purposes.  This  claim  is  not 
supported  by  the  record.  The  minutes  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  B.iard  of  Education  for  December  31,  1902,  (page  2,98S,  Journal  of 
Board  of  Education,  Volume  2)  show  that  the  resolutions  offered  on 
behalf  of  the  Committee  on  Buildings  were  adopted  by  the  Executive 
Committee,  as  follows: 


2? 


NEW   YORK,    19C2— 1903. 


"Resqlved.  That  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportion- 
ment be  and  it  is  hereby  requested  to  authorize  the  issue  of 
corporate  stock  during  the  year  1903.  to  the  amount  of 
$8,889,430  'for  the  erection;  equipment  and  improvement  of 
school  buildings  and  the  acquisition  of  sites  therefor,  and  it 
is  further 

"Resolved.  That  said  Board  be  requested  to  authorize  the 
issue  of  corporate  stock  tothe  amount  of  $3,500,000.  in  accord- 
ance with  the  provisions  of  clause  9,  section  169  of  the  Charter 
at  the  earliest  possible  date  subsequent  to  January  1,  1903." 
These  resolutions  were  accompanied  by  a  report  setting  forth  that 
"73.000  sittings  would  have  to  be  provided  for  in  the  public  schools. 

Early  in  February  $900,000  more  was  asked  for  two  high  schools  in 
Brooklyn,  bringing  the  total  requisition  up  to  $9,788,430.  Nothing  was 
done  by  the  Board  of  Estimate  until  March,  and  then  of  the  appropria- 
tion asked  for  only  $3,500,000  was  authorixed. 

Not  another  cent  was  authorized  until  late  in  the  Sum- 
mer when  the  newspapers  began  an  agitation,  showing  how 
utterly  inadequate  the  achool  provisions  would  prove  to  be 
in  the  Fall.  The  newspapers  also  called  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  debt  limit  had  been  raised  $140,000,000  and 
asked  what  better  use  could  be  made  of  the  city's  credit 
than  to  provide  for  the  education  of  the  children  of  the 
people. 

This  stirred  up  the  Low  administration,  and  on  July  29  made  a 
second  authorization  of  $3,400,000.  None  of  this  money,  however,  id 
available  until  allotted  for  some  specific  purpose,  as  shown  in  the 
comparative  tables  above. 

COLUMBIA  COLLEGE  AND  THE  TEACHERS. 
The  Low-Maxwell-Columbia  College  administration  of  the  school 
system  has  developed  a  system  of  taxing  our  public  school  teachers  in 
a  manner  that  would  be  described  elsewhere  by  the  word  "graft." 
Superintendent  Maxwell's  requirements  in  the  m«tter  of  certificates  for 
appointments,  promotions,  etc.,  seem  to  have  been  made  with  a  special 
reference  to  compelling  teachers  to  take  a  Columbia  College  course  of 
lectures  and  studies.  This  takes  money  from  their  pockets  and  infringes 
upon  their  time.  Under  the  time  honored  system  of  this  city  and  under 
Superintendent  John  Jasper  the  advancement  of  teachers  to  heads  of 
departments  depended  upon  merit  as  displayed  in  the  school  room. 
Under  the  Fusion-Columbia  College  system  the  teacher  seeking  advance- 
ment must  have  the  new  license,  which  is  granted  only  upon  evidence 
that  the  applicant  has  attended  a  course  of  lectures  upon  teacher's 
duties,  the  Columbia  College  course  being  plainly  indicated  as  the 
"<»pen  sesame"  to  advancement  and  higher  salary.  The  expense  for  the 
lecture  course  is  $40,  and  the  price  of  books  is  $8  or  $10  more. 

SUPERINTENDENT  MAXWELL'S  TEXT  BOOK  GRAFT. 
The  Columbia  College  tax  upon  the  teachers,  who  seek  promotion,  is 
not  the  only  example  where  graft  has  been  "reformed"  into  the  school 
department.  Before  the  Greater  City  was  established  it  was  the  whole- 
some rule  that  no  text  books  in  which  any  superintendent  or  principals 
were  pecuniarily  interested  should  be  used  in  the  schools.  When  the 
Charter  of  Greater  New  York  was  framed  the  reformers  succeeded  in 
getting  into  it  a  provision  permitting  employees  of  the  Department  of 
Education  to  be  interested  In  books  used  in  the  schools. 

This  provision  was  strengthened  under  the  Charter 
revision,  which  took  effect  January  1,  1902;  and  it  is  an 
open  secret  that  Seth  Low,  one  of  the  members  of  the  Re- 
vision Commission,  intrusted  the  work  of  drafting  its  sec- 
tions dealing  with  educational  matters  to  Dr.  Maxwell.  It 
happens  that  Dr.  Maxwell,  the  Low-Fusion  Superintendent 
of  Schools,  has  his  name  on  a  grammar  published  by  the 
American  Book  Company,  and  on  other  text  books. 
Since  Superintendent  Jasper  was  thrown  out,  because  he  was  op- 
posed to  graft,  and  Maxwell  got  control  of  the  schools,  the  Maxwell 
tramm  tt    h  is  achieved   a  wonderful   popularity  amonj  the  teachers. 


NEW   YORK.    1002-1903.  21 

Every  school  principal  orders  quantities  of  Maxwell  grammars  nl 
matter  how  much  better  he  may  think  some  other  text  books  may  be. 
As  to  that,  however,  his  choice  has  been  somewhat  confined;  for  an 
examination  of  the  supply  list  shows  that  one  of  the  most  famous 
grammars  long  used  in  this  city,  and  used  almost  exclusively  in  many 
MAXWELL  AND  ROGERS  AGAINST  TEACHERS. 
The  Low-Maxwell  autocrats  in  the  Department  of  Education  were 
not  satisfied  with  an  arbitrary  exercise  of  power  such  as  never  had 
been  equalled  in  previous  administrations,  and  planned  to  seize  auto- 
cratic power. 

The  Conkling  Bill  providing  that  a  teacher  could  be 
dismissed  for  a  violation  of  a  by-law  of  the  Board  was  in- 
spired by  President  Henry  A.  Rogers  to  make  Maxwell's 
hold  absolute. 

No  greater  injury  could  be  conceived  than  to  put  the  Tate  of  hun- 
dreds of  teachers  of  long  service  and  excellent  records  into  the  hands 
of  a  capricious  and  opinionated  official  like  Maxwell.  Popular  opinion 
was  so  unanimously  against  the  bill  that  its  effect  was  felt  at  Albany, 
and  the  measure  was  defeated. 

"FUSION"   RAISES  AGE   OF  ADMISSION  TO   PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 
FROM  FIVE  TO  SIX  YEARS. 

Children  were  formerly  admitted  to  the  primary  schools  of  this  city 
at  the  age  of  five  years.  Under  the  Low-Maxwell  rules  they  are  not 
allowed  to  enter  until  they  are  six.  If  the  hundreds  of  five-year-old 
children  were  admitted  as  formerly  the  number  of  pupils  forced  into 
half  time  classes  would  be  much  greater  than  it  is  now. 

In  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx,  which  Boroughs  comprise  the  old  City 
of  New  York,  the  elementary  school  course  covered  a  period  of  seven 
years.  This  continued  to  be  true  in  these  Boroughs  of  the  consolidated 
city  until  September  of  this  year,  when  the  new  eight  year  course  went 
into  effect.  The  effect  is  to  add  two  years  to  the  age  of  the  child  in 
th^  future  when  completing  the  elementary  school  course.  The  course 
of  study  is  very  crowded  here,  and  is  planned  as  though  it  was  taken 
for  granted  that  every  child  intends  to  leave  it  only  for  the  purpose  of 
entering  the  High  Schools  and  completing  a  course  there. 

No  thought  seems  to  be  given  to  those  pupils,  more 
than  80  per  cent,  in  proportion  of  the  whole,  who  never  ob- 
tain anything  more  than  an  elementary  school  training. 
In  place  of  fitting  this  great  majority  for  the  aetivi;?es  of  the  world 
into  which  they  must. plunge  at  about  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  the 
elementary  course  is  merely  preparatory  for  entering  the  High  School. 
No  course  of  study  has  been  completed  or  rounded  out.    Smatterings  of 
special  studies  are  allowed  to  waste  the  time  of  such  pupils.    It  would  be 
greatly  to  their  advantage  in  the  future  if  this  time  could  be  given 
to  bookkeeping  or  some  such  practical  study. 

The  development  of  High  Schools  and  neglect  of  the  elementary 
training  that  should  complete  the  education  of  the  80  per  cent,  above 
referred  to  has  reached  a  stage  that  few  of  our  citizens  appreciate. 
There  are  three  High  Schools  now  in  New  York,  the  commercial,  the 
technical  and  the  old  fashioned  literary  ones  whose  course  prepares  for 
college.  As  only  the  last  named  seems  to  be  considered  in  the  grammar 
school  course  a  greater  proportion  than  80  per  cent,  of  the  students 
thus  throw  away  a  greater  part  of  the  last  two  years  in  grammar 
schools.  In  these  last  two  years  the  elementary  work  should  differ 
among  different  classes  of  children.  Those  who  are  fortunate  enough 
to  be  able  to  obtain  higher  training  should  have  the  choice  of  such  & 
course  as  now  exists. 

Those  who  must  leave  school  at  the  end  of  this  course 
to  earn  their  living  as  soon  as  the  law  will  let  them  should 
be  provided  with  a  course  of  study  suitable  to  their  needs. 

Common  sense  would  dictate  such  a  line  of  action:  but  then  what 
has  such  an  administration  to  do  with  common  sense?  Its  officials  are 
not  merely  faddists.  They  are  extreme  faddists.  The  people  of  the 
City  cf  New  York  do  not  yet  realize  the  extra  burden  which  this  party 
©f  faddists  has  imposed  upon  ?£ie  educational  system  and  thus  upon  the 


22 


NEW   YORK.  1902-1903. 


taxpayers.  Nor  do  they  realize  how  unsatisfactory  is  the  educational 
provision  made  for  SO  per  cent,  of  those  who  enter  the  public  schools. 
If  they  did,  no  other  subject  would  need  to  be  considered  to  insure  the 
defeat  of  the  Low-Fusion  administration. 

SUPERINTENDENT  MAXWELL  GIVES  NO  HOPE  OF  IMPROVE- 
MENT. 

All  New  York  remembers  how  bitterly  the  last  Democratic  adminis- 
tration of  the  city's  affairs  was  assailed  upon  allegations  that  its  almost 
criminal  neglect  of  the  public  school  system  was  shown  by  the  fact 
that  thirty  thousands  of  children  of  school  age  could  not  be  accommo- 
dated with  seats  in  full  time  public  school  classes.  The  changes  were 
rung  down  upon  these  charges  until  it  might  have  been  supposed  that 
the  needs  of  the  children  of  this  city  had  been  absolutely  neglected,  and 
that  the  remote  country  districts  and  back-woods  places  were  better 
supplied  with  educational  facilities  than  this  metropolis. 

To-day,  in  the  face  of  Fusion's  failure  to  remedy  this 
evil,  in  the  face  of  the  further  fact  that  instead  of  its  being 
checked  or  lessened  the  number  has  increased  to  over 
80,000,  we  hear  some  expressions  of  regret  on  the  part  of 
our  Fusion  officials,  but  not  the  mildest  measure  of  blame; 
and  Dr.  Maxwell,  the  head  and  front  of  the  Low-Maxwell- 
Fusion  School  Machine,  complacently  says:  "I  do  not  ex- 
pect to  live  long  enough  to  see  the  end  of  the  part  time 
classes.  They  will  always  be  necessary  as  long  as  the 
population  keeps  growing  at  the  present  rate." 


PERVERSION   OF   FACTS   OR   WHAT   FUSION   HAS  ACTUALLY 
DONE  FOR  SCHOOLS. 
On  a  card  just  issued  and  spread  broadcast  by  the  Citizens'  Union, 
showing  what  the  Fusion-Republican  party  has  done  for  New  York, 
on  the  subject  of  schools,  the  following  is  printed,  viz: 

Schools:  "514.900,000  were  appropriated  for  New  Schools  in 
one  and  one-half  years,  against  $8,904,242  in  four  years  under 
Tammany." 

After  monies  have  been  set  aside  or  authorized  (i.  e.,  promised),  by 
the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  for  school  purposes,  before 
they  are  available  to  the  Board  of  Education,  specific  appropriations 
for  the  actual  buildings  to  be  erected  or  property  to  be  purchased  must 
again  be  made  by  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment.  It  is, 
therefore,  apparent  that  no  matter  how  much  is  authorized  (i.  e.,  prom- 
ised), the  Board  of  Education  cannot  make  its  contracts  until  the  money 
is  thus  specifically  appropriated. 

To  verify  this  financial  claim  of  the  Republican-Fusion  administra- 
tion that  $14,900,000  was  by  them  appropriated  In  one  and  one-half 
years,  against  $8,904,242  in  four  years  under  Tammany,  an  examination 
of  the  minutes  of  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment,  Municipal 
Assembly.  Board  of  Aldermen  and  the  Board  of  Education  to  September 
1,  1903,  was  made,  whch  reveals  the  following  true  facts,  viz: 

The  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  authorized  (i.  e..  prom- 
ised), the  following  lump  sum  amounts  to  be  used  by  the  Board  of 
Education  for  the  erection  of  school  houses  and  the  purchase  of  sites 


therefor: 

AUTHORIZED. 

1  S!»s 

1899  ....................................... 57.683.640.00 

1900    3.500.000.00 

1901   .'   3.700,000.00 


Total  under  4  years'  Democratic  Administration. .$14,883,640.00 

1902    58.000.000.00 

1903    6.900.000.00 


Total  under  1  2-3  years'  Republican  Administration. $14,900,000.00 
There  was  appropriated  by  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportion- 
ment, or  made  available  to  the  Board  of  Education  for  specific  work  or 
Objects  for  actual  contracts  for  building  school  houses  and  the  acquire- 


NEW    YORK,  1002-1&O3. 


23 


ment  of  sites  therefor,  including  appropriations  from  bond  issues  author- 
ized by  acts  of  legislation  prior  to  Greater  New  York  Charter,  the  fol- 
lowing amounts,  viz: 

APPROPRIATED. 
189$    $1,085,240.00 

1899    6,624,020.00 

1900   A   5,280,234.00 

1901    4,483,451.00 


Total  under  4  years'  Democratic  Administration. . .$17,372,945.00 

1902    $4,945,431.00 

1903   6,732,775.00 


Total  under  1  2-2  years'  Republican  Administration,$ll,678,206.00 
By  reference  to  the  first  table,  under  authorization,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  sum  of 

$14,900,000,  stated  by  the  Citizens'  Union  as  having  been 
appropriated  («.  e.,  promised),  in  1902  and  1903,  is  mis- 
leading and  that  the  truth  is  that  this  sum  was  only  au- 
thorized. 

By  reference  to  the  second  table,  under  appropriation,  it  will  be  seen 
that  in  1902  and  1903  the  Republican  administration  appropriated  only, 
in  round  numbers,  the  sum  of  $11,678,206. 

The  table  Of  appropriation  further  discloses  the  fact  that  under  the 
four  years  of  Democratic  Van  Wyck  administration  there  was  actually 
made  available  to  the  Board  of  Education  for  the  building  of  school 
houses  and  the  purchase  of  sites  the  sum  of  $17,372,945,  or  an  increase 
of  appropriation  in  favor  of  the  Democratic  administration  of  $5,704,- 
739.00. 

From  the  above  tabulation  the  true  facts  are  clearly  set  out  in  the 
following: 

COMPARATIVE  TABLE. 

Republicans.  Democratic, 
1902   and    1903.         1898  to  1901. 
Claims.         Truth.      inc.  Facts. 
Period.  1%  years.      1%  years.      4  years. 

Bonds  Authorized  None  $14,900,000  $14,853,640 

Bonds  appropriated  in  1902  and  1903  or 

made  available   $14,900,000      $1,678,206  $17,372,945 

It  is  desired  to  point  out  the  fact  that  these  highly  respectable 
Republican  gentlemen  of  the  Citizens'  Union,  to  mislead  th«  public  and 
for  their  own  use  or  argument,  quote  the  amount  of  $14,900,000  "author- 
ised,"  i.  e.,  promised,  by  them  in  1902  and  1903,  but  conceal  the  fact 
that  only  $11,678,207,  was  appropriated  or  issued  by  them  or  made  avail- 
able for  the  use  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

To  further  distort  the  true  facts,  these  estimable  gentlemen  name 
the  sum  of  $8,904,242,  as  being  the  amount  appropriated  by  "Tammany" 
in  four  years,  while  as  a  matter  of  fact  no  such  an  amount  can  be 
deduced  from  the  authentic  tables  herein  shown,  and  that  it  should 
have  been  shown  by  them  that  Tammany  did  appropriate  or  make  avail- 
able to  the  Board  of  Education  in  rhe  four  years,  seventeen  millions  of 
dallars  instead  of  $8,904,242,  as  stated  in  their  claim. 

How  much  longer  will  the  citizens  of  New  York  allow  themselves  to 
be  deluded  by  such  perversions  of  facts? 


Dr.  Low  from  Brooklyn  town, 

Came  across  the  ferry, 
Dressed  out  fine  in  cap  and  gown,  y_  . 

To  find  New  York  quite  merry. 

t  ■ 

*  'Tis  sad  to  see*,"  said  Dr.  Low, 
"The  people  so  contented. 

In  two  years'  time  Reform  will  show, 
Their  smiles  can  be  prevented." 


Vote  against  ■-Fusion''  fraud  and  f^lse  pretense. 


24 


NEW   YORK,    1 902-1903. 


"FUSION"  NEGLECT  OF  THE  DOCKS. 


Dock  Improvement  at  a  Standstill — The  Odell  Pier  Scandal 
and  Favoritism  to  Corporations  Supplemented  by 
Menace  to  Commercial  Progress. 

The  "Fusion"  administration  of  the  Dock  Department  has  unsuc- 
cessfully attacked  its  predecessors  on  the  point  that  pier  leases  and 
privileges  had  been  let  too  cheaply.  In  every  instance  where  an  effort 
to  show  this  had  been  made  by  public  and  competitive  letting  of 
adjoining  and  similar  facilities  the  result  has  been  that  the  prices 
secured  by  Commissioner  Hawkes  were  below  those  asked  by  the 
former  board. 

The  record  of  the  present  administration  in  the  matter  of  letting 
piers  and  privileges  without  open  bidding  has  been  even  worse.  The 
results  in  favoritism  to  the  friends  or  political  associates  of  the  Com- 
missioner and  to  the  corporations  with  which  he  shdws  indications  of 
affiliation  are  scandalous.  The  injury  to  the  city  in  the  loss  of  the 
reasonable  revenue  from  such  rentals  is  considerable.  ' 

The  Odell  lease  of  Pier  24  is  a  notable  instance  of 
favoritism. 

The  Central  Hudson  Steamboat  Company,  in  which  Governor  Odell  is 
heavily  interested,  applied  for  a  new  lease  of  that  pier,  although  the 
company  was  in  possession  under  a  lease  that  had  six  years  to  run. 
The  ostensible  reason  for  this  remarkable  request  was  that  the  company 
desired  to  make  some  improvements  and  could  not  afford  to  do  so  for 
so  short  a  time  as  the  life  of  the  lease  it  held.  The  real  reason  was 
evidently  the  fact  that  Governor  Odell's  relations  with  the  Low  admin- 
istration were  such  that  he  saw  a  chance  to  get  what  he  wanted  now, 
but  could  not  tell  what  his  chances  would  be  six  years  later.  Every 
step  in  the  history  of  the  case  indicates  this  plainly.  The  application  of 
the  Steamboat  Company  was  opposed  in  the  Comptroller's  office  and  the 
Sinking  Fund  Commission  and  was  not  favored  or  progressed  by  the 
Dock  Department  until 

Gov.  Odell,  in  person,  called  upon  the  Commissioners 
at  Pier  A,  and  advocated  it  in  some  persuasive  way  that 
brought  immediate  results. 

The  price  at  which  the  new  lease  was  executed  is  a  further  indication 
of  the  motives  of  the  Odell  Company  in  making  the  application  to  a 
"Fusion"  administration  having  an  open  alliance  with  the  State  Repub- 
lican Machine,  of  which  he  is  the  Boss.  The  new  lease,  with  two  priv- 
ileges of  renewal  for  long  terms  at  10  per  cent,  increase  was  made  for 
$31,000  a  year,  although  Pier  24  is  200  feet  longer  than  the  two  adjoining 
piers  which  were  let  by  the  old  Dock  Board  for  $40,000,  each  under 
renewal  terms  much  less  advantageous. 

WATER  FRONT  IDLE  AND  MONEY  WASTED. 

In  the  matter  of  progress  in  work  of  the  greatest  importance  to 
the  commercial  and  business  interests  of  the  city,  the  present  adminis- 
tration of  the  Dock  Departments  can  be  compared  with  none  of  its 
predecessors,  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  future  gives  nothing  similar. 

The  previous  administration  began  the  work  of  improving  the 
water  front  on  North  River,  between  Bloomfleld  and  West  Twenty-third 
streets.  The  present  Commissioner,  wishing  to  make  the  work  his  own, 
threw  over  approved  plans  and  applied  last  October  to  the  United 
States  Government  for  permission  to  extend  the  pier  headline.  The 
Army  Engineers,  however?  did  net  consider  this  extension  necessary, 
and  so  he  has  indulged  in  futile  ?~nest  with  the  Government  author- 
ities. 


NEW   YORK.  1902-1901 


25 


The  present  condition  of  this  most  important  section  is  scandalous. 
Two-thirds  of  a  mile  of  water  front  has  been  taken 
from  commercial  use,  and  the  city  is  now  paying  interest 
on  about  $4,000,000  for  property  taken,  with  twice  as  much 
more  to  come,  yet  not  a  contract  to  build  a  pier  has  been 
let, 

and  all  this  delay  because  an  obscure  lawyer  cannot  make  the  Army 
Engineers  agree  with  him  on  engineering  problems. 

Liberty  street  and  North  River  presents  another  example  of  waste 
of  the  city's  money  and  damage  to  commercial  interests.  Work  on  the 
new  pier  has  been  held  up  for  six  months  by  disputing  over  a  thousand- 
dollar  dredging  contract,  given  after  public  advertisement.  The  Com- 
missioner decides  the  figure  too  high,  thinks  the  matter  over  six  months, 
and  gives  the  contract  for  the  same  work  to  a  New  Jersey  man  without 
public  letting.  In  the  meantime  the  city  loses  $40,000  rental  and  a  large 
amount  of  interest. 

Nothing  has  been  done  on  East  River  except  to  complete  work 
already  under  way  when  the  present  Commissioner  took  office,  and  to 
plan  two  small  piers  for  the  South  Brooklyn  shore. 

HOW  "INCREASE"  OF  WHARFAGE  IS  SHOWN. 
A  misleading  statement  of  financial  results  about  this  department 
may,  of  course,  be  expected  in  the  "Fusion"  campaign  literature.  It 
comes  in  the  shape  of  a  claim  that  the  new  administration  has  made  a 
large  percentage  of  increase  in  wharfage  collections.  Upon  investiga- 
tion, it  is  disclosed  that  this  apparent  increase  is  a  mere  matter  of  book- 
keepingv  The  money  formerly  collected  and  accounted  for  as  "dock 
and  slip  rent"  is  now  collected  by  the  Dock  Masters  and  turned  in  as 
"general  wharfage."  No  increase  in  the  total  amount  of  revenues  re- 
ceived is  accomplished  by  those  tactics. 

BUSY  ON  S25.0C0  BOOKMAKING. 

The  Commissioner  himself  and  the  whole  department  seem  to  have 
wasted  the  last  six  months  in  preparing  his  annual  report  for  the  year 
1902.  He  evidently  realizes  that  the  report  cannot  show  work  accom- 
plished, and  so  it  is  to  consist  of  photographs  of  every  kind  of  craft  in 
New  Tork  waters  and  of  himself.  For  the  past  month  he  has  divided 
his  time  between  visits  to  Newport  and  cruising  on  the  department's 
tug  with  engineers,  draftsmen,  stenographers,  and  three  photographers, 
while  the  city's  interests  were  neglected. 

The  report  will  cost  the  city  between  twenty-five  and  thirty-five 
thousand  dollars,  as  against  less  than  $1,000  for  previous  reports.  This 
sum  is  to  be  charged  to  the  city  in  order  that  a  Dock  Commissioner, 
whose  work  does  not  show  in  enduring  form,  may  appear  in  a  pictur-3 
book  of  little  value  and  no  practical  importance  to  the  citizens  who 
foot  the  bills,  as  well  as  bills  for  his  auto  cars. 

The  whole  dock  administration  is  grotesque  beyond  words. 


COMPARATIVE  WORK  IN  TWO  YEARS  OF  EACH  ADMINISTRA- 
TION. 

The  following  table  shows  the  almost  complete  stoppage  of  the  work 
of  public  dock  improvement  in  our  harbor.  It  also  shows  by  the  con- 
tinuance and  increase  of  the  work  of  private  improvement  that  the 
necessities  still  call  for  improvement,  and  that  there  is  no  reason,  except 
neglect  and  incompetence,  for  not  going  ahead. 

WORK  DONE  IN  1900  AND  1901. 

1900.  1901.  Total. 

Increase  of  wharfage  room  made 

by  city    15,568  lin.  ft.     14,131  lin.  ft.     29,699  lin.  ft. 

Increase  of  wharfage  room  made 

by  city  and  private  parties..  11,754  lin.  ft.  14,499  lin.  ft.  26,253  lin.  ft 
Superficial  area  of  city's  pie/s 

increased   344,541  sq.  ft.    400,532  sq.  ft.    745,073  sq.  ft. 

New  piers  built   12  9  -  21 

Piers  extended   ,   *  If  1$ 


26  NEW   YORK.  1902-1903. 

Bulkhead  wall  built  by  city           2,049  lin.  ft.  2,058  lin.  ft.      4,107  lin  .ft. 

Bulkhead  wall  built  by  private 

parties    174  lin.  ft.          174  lin.  ft. 

WORK  DONE  IN  1902  AND  HALF  OP  1903. 

1902.  Half  of  1903.  Total. 

Increase  of  wharfage  room  made 

by  city                                      11,342  lin.  ft.  2,233  lin.  ft.     13,575  lin.  ft. 

Increase  of  wharfage  room  made 

by  city  and  private  parties..  22,374  lin.  ft.  9,232  lin.  ft.  31,606  lin.  ft. 
Superficial  area  of  city's  piers 

increased   194,403  sq.  ft.  34,762  sq.  ft.    229,165  sq.  ft. 

New  piers  built.  -.                         5  2  7 

Piers  extended                                     7  2  _  9 

Bulkhead  wall  built  by  city            2,067  lin.  ft.  194  lin.  ft.       2,261  lin.  ft. 

Bulkhead  wall  built  by  private 

parties   ....   . 


LAWKS,  HAWKES! 


Who  gave  away  our  choicest  piers 
And  laughed  at  us  with   "Fusion"  jeers; 
Who  bought  cement  from  friends  of  his, 
And  then  the  public  sought  to  quiz? 
Sly  Hawkes! 

Who  cooks  a  daily  table  d'hote, 
On  frogs  and  red  ink  wine  does  dote, 
And  takes  his  clerks  out  every  day 
To  have  a  sail  on  New  York  Bay? 
Chef  Hawkes! 

Who  tries  to  fool  us  for  effect, 
So  that  Seth  Low  he  can  elect; 
And  prates  and  boasts  of  "Fusion"  thrift, 
While  grafters  public  money  lift? 
Saint  Hawkes! 

Who  made  a  mountain  from  a  mole, 
And  then  crawled  back  Into  his  hole; 
Who  cried  4<stop  thief,"  the  while  he  ran, 
And  carried  pelf  to  the  New  burgh  man? 
Lawks  Hawkes! 


NEW   YORK,    1902- 1903.  27 


YOU  CAN'T  F001  THE  OLD  GENTLEMAN  ALL  THE  TIME 


£S  NEW    YORK,  1002-1903. 


FUSION  IN  THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 


A  Wrecker  in  Charge — Favoritism,  Partisanship,  Hypocrisy 
and  Tyranny  Characterizing  the  Ruler  of  the  Fire  Fighters. 

Mayor  Low's  attitude  toward  his  Republican  appointee  as  Fire 
Commissioner,  Thomas  Sturgis,  is  one  of  the  most  flagrant  examples  of 
the  humbug  of  his  pretences  to  be  a  non-partisan  and  reform  official. 
Of  course,  it  could  not  be  expected  that  the  Mayor  would  do  anything 
else  but  endorse  Sturgis  in  carrying  out  a  pre-election  agreement  to 
reward  the  Purroy  faction  for  its  support  of  Low..  It  was  a  surprise, 
though,  even  to  those  who  knew  Low's  peculiarities  of  character  to 
find  that 

he  was  so  thoroughly   entangled   in   his  relations  with 
Sturgis  as  to  be  obliged  to  gloss  over  and  excuse  the 
latter's  violation  of  the  law  in  the  matter  of  contracts 
and  to  commend  instead  of  condemn  a  guilty  official  pil- 
loried before  the  public  by  the  charges  of  the  Comptroller. 
Mayor  Low  in  his  smug  self-sufficiency  must  be  as  thick  skinned  as  a 
rhinoceros  to  preserve  his  self-satisfied  complacency  in  such  a  situation. 
THE  OUTRAGE  ON  CHIEF  CROKER. 
Commissioner  Sturgis  planned  to  oust  Fire  Chief  Edward  Croker  on 
account  of  his  name  and  to  put  Deputy  Chief  Purroy  in  the  place  on 
account  of  the  political  services  to  "Fusion"'  of  the  Hon.   Henry  D. 
Purroy.    The  campaign  was  inaugurated  by  granting  Chief  Croker  a 
two  months'  vacation,  and  continued  by  breaking  open  his  desk  and 
going  through  his  books  and  papers  in  his  absence. 

Hearing  of  what  was  going  on  Chief  Croker  returned  and  resumed 
the  duties  of  his  office.  The  Commissioner  refused  to  allow  him  to 
act  as  Chief  for  the  reason  that  bis  vacation  had  not  expired.  The 
Chief  insisted  on  his  rights,  and  the  Commissioner  made  an  administra- 
tive order  relieving  him  from  the  command  of  the  uniformed  forte,  but 
ordering  him  to  report  at  headquarters  every  Monday  at  10  a.  m. 

The  fight  was  taken  to  the  courts  and  resulted  in  a  decision  of  the 
Court  of  Appeals  in  favor  of  the  Chief,  the  following  extracts  from  which, 
are  interesting. 

"While  the  Fire  Commissioner  of  the  City  of  New  York 
has.  under  the  Charter,  the  general  management  and  direction 
of  the  Fire  Department  and  power  to  remove  the  officers  and 
employees  thereof  upon  charges  mentioned  in  the  Charter,  he 
has  no  power  to  interfere  with  the  specific  powers  and  duties 
conferred  upon  and  vested  in  the  Chief  of  the  Fire  Depart- 
ment by  the  Charter,  and  no  power  to  relieve  him  from  his 
duties  or  remove  him  from  his  position  because  he  refuses  to 
continue  a  vacation  granted  to  him  at  his  own  request. 

"No  charges  were  preferred  against  the  officer  (Chief 
Croker),  and  while  the  reason  given  for  the  action  of  the 
Commissioner  was  the  refusal  of  the  Chief  to  continue  his 
vacation,  yet  he  was  required  to  report  for  duty  every  week,  . 
and  this  was  the  only  function  or  duty  he  had  left.  He  whs 
thus  prevented  from  exercising  the  power  given  to  him  by 
law.  by  an  order  made  in  violation  of  the  law. 

"The  Commissioner,  by  attempting,  even  in  the  best  of 
faith,  to  impose  a  compulsory  vacation  upon  the  ('!  1  of  the 
department,  could  not  compel  that  official  lo  abs<  :.'  nitns.  if 
and  thus  prevent  htm  from  discharging  a  statutory  duty.  As 
long  as  he  was  Chief,  with  no  charges  pending  against  htm, 
he  could  not  be  suspended  for  either  a  definite  or  an  indefinite 
period." 

The  stat.''*ory  powers  and  duties  of  U,»  Chief  are  persistently 
aTlud»d  ».o  in  ihe  derision,  and  the  more  Un  tase  is  studied  the  more 


NEW   YORK.  1902-1003. 


*9 


apparent  it  becomes  that  these  powers  and  duties  furnished  as  strong 
an  inducement  for  the  attack  upon  Chief  Croker  as  the  Purroy  agree- 
ment did.    The  Court  of  Appeals  says  further: 

'  The  Chief  had  the  absolute  right  to  exercise  the  public 
function  of  recommending  promotion  and  assignments  to 
duty.  and.  except  during  his  absence  or  disability,  no  one  else 
could  exercise  that  function.  No  assignment  or  promotion 
could  be  made  without  his  recommendation.  In  the  discharge 
of  that  duty  he  was  subject  to  no  one,  not  even  the  Commis- 
missioner.  Within  the  narrow  limits  of  this  statutory  power 
he  was  as  independent  of  control  as  the  Commissioner  himself 
in  his  wide  field.  While  he  could  be  removed  by  the  Commis- 
sioner after  a  trial  upon  one  of  the  charges  mentioned  in  the 
statute,  he  could  not,  at  least  until  charges  had  been  preferred 
against  him.  be  deprived,  even  temporarily,  of  the  right,  to 
make  the  recommendation,  which  was  an  essential  pre- 
requisite to  any  assignment  or  promotion.  This  statutory 
right  was  part  of  his  office  and  he  could  not  be  deprived  of 
it,  directly  or  indirectly,  while  he  held  the  office.    *    *  * 

"As  to  all  of  the  duties  except  those  conferred  upon  him, 
exclusively,  by  statute,  he  was  subject  to  the  orders  of  the 
Commissioner,  but  as  to  his  statutory  duties  he  was  subject 
only  to  the  commands  of  the  statute  itself.    To  this  limited 
extent  an  attribute  of  sovereignity  has  been  entrusted  to  him 
which  was  inseparable  from  the  office  and  could  only  be  exer- 
cised by  the  person  who  held  the  office." 
The  "non-partisans"  put  into  the  Yire  Department  by  Mayor  Low 
were  thus  more  than  eager  to  carry  out  the  latter's  pre-election  Purroy 
agreement  so  as  to  get  these  important  statutory  powers  into  compliant 
hands.      Commissioner  Sturgis,  however,  was  convinced  that  he  had 
made  a  mistake  in  his  arbitrary'  methods  long  before  the  law  was 
declared  by  the  Court  of  Appeals  as  above.    The  press  with  substantial 
unanimity  denounced  his  course,  and  the  representatives  of  the  vast 
insurance  and  business  interests  of  this  city  were  heard  from  in  bitter 
criticism  of  the  netty  politics  which  was  destroying  the  discipline  and 
efficiency  of  the  department  that  protected  the  lives  and  property  of  the 
people  from  fire. 

Commissioner  Sturgis  was  not  moved  from  his  purpose,  though.  He 
persisted  with  the  connivin'  spirit  which  his  Boss  Tom  Piatt  avows  as 
his  guide  and  studied  out  a  way  to  dismiss  the  Chief,  which  he  fondly 
imagines  to  be  within  the  forms  of  law,  but  which  will  be  contested  for 
the  Chief  until  the  Court  of  Appeals  is  heard  from  again.  He  made 
charges  this  time,  and  although  they  were  obviously  frivolous,  had  the 
Chief  before  himself  as  trial  Commissioner  and  dismissed  the  too  popular 
fire  fighter.  Aside  from  the  question  of  good  taste  and  fair  dealing 
involved  in  the  Commissioner's  Protean  role  of  prosecutor  and  judge, 
there  are  many  legal  questions  raised  by  this  trial,  and  it  is  confidently 
expected  that  Chief  Croker's  reinstatement  is  only  a  matter  of  time. 
INTOXICATED  WITH  POWER. 
Tfc    G  oker-Purroy  conspiracy  gave  Sturgis  the  habit. 

From  c.  .  rj  ing  out  the  campaign  bargains  of  Mayor  Low  to 

the  gratifying  of  his  own  little  revenges  was  an  easy  step. 

In  appointments  and  promotions  he  went  along  the  same 

lines  of  partisanship  and  favoritism. 

When  the  time  came  to  make  Purroy's  appointment  as  Chief  perma- 
nent, Stdrgis  was  up  against  the  problem  of  keeping  his  pet  candidate 
from  being  beaten  in  a  competitive  Civil  Service  examination.  Every  one 
knew  that  Purroy  could  not  come  out  at  the  head  or  any  list.  In 
view  of  the  well  understood  Purroy  proclivities  of  the  appointing 
power  all  of  the  eligible  officers  sidestepped  the  examination,  with  the 
exception  of  Deputy  Chief  Lally,  who  insisted  on  taking  the  examina- 
tion for  Chief.  So  Sturgis  was  compelled  to  set  up  the  pins  for  a  non- 
competitive examination,  and  thus  shut  out  Lally  even  from  the  chance 
of  showing  what  he  could  do  as  compared  with  Purroy.  It  would  not 
do  to  let  any  one  have  a  chance  to  make  a  show  of  the  Commission- 
er's department  pet  and  the  Mayor's  political  protege. 


NEW    YORK.  1902-1903. 


31 


Mayor  Low's  interest  in  the  matter  was  sufficient  to  induce  the 
"Reform"  Municipal  Civil  Service  Commission  to  comply  with  the 
wishes  of  Sturgis.  In  Civil  Service  a3  in  everything  else  the  "Reform- 
ers" have  movable  standards.  What  they  require  of  others  is  no  guide 
to  what  they  feel  free  to  do  themselves.  All  of  their  professions  about 
Civil  Service  were  set  at  naught  by  their  action  in  the  Purroy  case 

Though  evidently  pained  by  this  slip  of  their  fellow  reformers  the 
National  Civil  Service  Reform  Association  refrains  from  any  scathing 
criticism  of  the  Ogden  Board  or  Sturgis  for  the  great  diversity  between 
their  practice  and  their  preaching.  On  page  121  of  the  August  number 
of  Good  Government  Natiooal  Secretary  Elliot  H.  Goodwin  says  mildly, 
but  rather  plaintively: 

"It  is  a  great  pity  that,  under  this  Reform  Administra- 
tion, there  could  not  have  been  a  real  competitive  examination 
for  Chief  of  the  Fire  Department." 

The  case  of  Deputy  Chief  John  Binns  is  an  excellent  example  of  the 
devious  ways  of  Sturgisism.  Binns  was  made  Battalion  Chief  on  a 
wonderful  record  of  efficiency  and  bravery.  His  promotion  happened 
when  Sturgis  was  a  member  of  the  old  Fire  Board  so  that  he  knew 
this  record  well.  Binns  was  considered  a  model  officer  by  Chiefs  Shay, 
Bonner  and  Croker.  He  is  a  Bennett  medal  man.  On  his  advent  as 
Low's  Commissioner,  Sturgis  took  ud  Binns  at  once.  The  Chief  was  at 
the  head  of  the  list  for  promotion  to  Deputy  Chief,  but  was  only  acting 
in  that  capacity  while  drawing  pay  as  Battalion  Chief.  It  was  thought 
that  he  would  get  his  deserved  advancement  without  delay. 

The  opening  of  the  Low-Sturgis  campaign  against  Chief  Croker 
was  the  means  of  a  fall  from  grace  for  poor  Binns.  The  Commissioner's 
canvass  for  support  in  this  dirty  work  among  the  superior  officers  of 
the  force  struck  a  snag  in  Binns,  and  then  it  became  apparent  that  the 
latter  had  lost  prestige  with  the  executive  head  of  the  department.  Every 
fireman  knew  why  Binns  was  out  with  the  Commissioner.  Battalion" 
Chiefs  Burns  and  Gooderson  leaped  into  favor  with  Sturgis.  Every 
fireman  knew  why.  They  were  the  only  two  of  the  chief  officers  who 
did  not  make  a  statement  in  support  of  the  efficiency  of  the  department 
under  Chief  Croker.  Binns  and  the  rest  of  the  Battalion  Chiefs  told  the 
truth  and  stood  by  their.  Chief  on  his  record. 

So  Sturgis  punished  Binns  by  giving  the  first  appointment  as 
Deputy  Chief  f.o  Chief  Kruger,  who  was  second  on  the  list.  Then  he 
asked  for  a  new  eligible  list  to  try  and  get  some  more  names  ahead  of 
Binns  for  promotion.  The  Municipal  Service  Commissioners  again  did 
his  bidding,  though  it  was  perfectly  apparent  that  his  purpose  was  to 
try  to  shut  Binns  out  and  put  in  his  two  new  pets.  The  plot  failed,  as 
Burns  and  Gooderson  were  unable  to  make  percentages  good  enough 
to  put  them  ahead  of  Binns.  He  was  still  at  the  head  when  the  new- 
list  came  out.  The  only  way  that  Sturgis  could  reward  them  for  their 
assistance  in  his  dirty  work  against  Chief  Croker  was  to  take  the  first 
three  names  and  make  three  promotions  to  the  rank  of  Deputy  Chief. 
To  appoint  the  second  man  again  and  call  for  another  list  would 
have  made  the  proof  of  the  Sturgis  tactics  too  plain.  So  Binns  got 
his  promotion  at  last,  but  he  was  immediately  sent  into  exile  in  Will- 
iamsburg. 

BRUTAL  TREATMENT  OF  RUSH. 
The  general  condemnation  of  Sturgis  for  his  treatment  of  Lieutenant 
John  Rush  would  have  been  intensified  had  it  been  known  that  the 
motive  for  it  was  found  in  the  fact  that  he  would  not  lend  himself  to 
the  Commissioner's  purposes  in  the  Croker  case.  Even  as  it  was,  every 
newspaper  in  the  city  denounced  the  Sturgis  action  as  outrageous.  The 
public  sentiment  aroused  was  so  strong  that  Sturgis  had  to  abandon  his 
scheme  to  throw  Rush  out  of  the  department,  and  was  forced  to  be 
content  to  banish  him  to  the  limbo  of  the  penal  colony  in  the  Fourth 
Battalion. 

Lieutenant  Rush  was  a  model  fireman  and  capable  officer.  He  was 
and  is  Supervising  Engineer  of  the  Department.  At  the  Wicke  fire 
he  reported  the  scarcity  of  water  to  Chief  Croker.  One  of  the  Sturgis 
fake  charges  against  Chief  Croker  was  in  relation  to  this  report  of 
scarcity,  and  an  effort  was  made  to  prove  that  the  report  was  false. 
The  evidence  of  Rush  supported  Chief  Croker  in  this  report.    In  his 


32 


NEW   YORK.  1902-1900. 


resentment  Sturgis  attacked  the  young  fireman  with  great  malignity, 
dragging  out  the  record  of  his  long  forgotten  term  in  the  Reformatory. 
Of  course,  Rush  had  a  pardon  and  produced  it,  but  Sturgis  would  have 
hounded  him  from  the  department  had  not  public  opinion  forced  him  to 
renounce  this  revenge.  Perhaps  some  of  our  self-righteous  reformers 
may  be  sincere  in  the  belief  that  this  worse  than  Pecksniffian  attack 
on  a  man  who  wras  honestly  trying  to  live  down  an  error  of  his  youth 
can  be  justified.  The  great  heart  of  the  people  decided  differently,  and 
Sturgis  had  to  weaken. 

INDICTABLE  OFFENSES  CONDONED. 
Fire  Commissioner  Sturgis  gained  unpleasant  notoriety  in  another 
direction  when  Comptroller  Grout  discovered  that  he  had  violated  the 
law  many  times  by  neglecting  to  advertise  for  bids  for  work  done  in 
repairing  engine  houses  to  the  amount  of  more  than  $1,000. 

Any  official  not  protected  by  the  magic  name  of  "Re- 
form" would  have  been  indicted  for  such  an  infraction  of 
the  law,  but  we  have  a  "Reform"  District  Attorney,  and 
that  was  the  Sturgis  good  luck. 
The  Sturgis  subterfuge  was  to  divide  the  job  into  its  separate  items 
of  carpenter  work,  plumbing,  painting,  etc.    When  the  legality  of  this 
scheme  was  questioned  the  opinion  of  the  Corporation  Counsel  was 
adverse  to  Sturgis,  but  the  latter  did  not  abandon  the  fake  until  Comp- 
troller Grout  held  up  the  bills  and  reported  the  law-defying  Fire  Com- 
missioner to  the  Mayor.    This  High  Priest  of  "Reform"  astonished  the 
public  and  some  of  his  admirers  by  condoning  the  offense  as  a  merely 
technical  violation  of  the  law,  and  added  that  Mr.  Sturgis  was  so  good 
a  Fire  Commissioner  that  a  little  thing  like  that  should  not  be  noticed. 
STURGIS  DEFIES  LAW. 
Comptroller  Grout's  letter,  dated  March  17,  1903,  in- 
\  forms  the  Mayor  that  "This  violation  occurred  in  Novem- 

ber and  December  last  on  some  ten  fire  houses,  for  sums 
r  running  from  $1,500  to  over  $3,000  on  each  house." 

The  Mayor's  mistake  of  justifying  a  violation  of  the  law  on  the 
ground  that  "it  was  such  a  little  one,"  was  not  the  result  of  any  lack  of 
good  advice  in  the  matter.  The  Evening  Post  tried  to  keep  him  straight 
with  this  admonition: 

"Comptroller  Grout  appears  to  have  demolished  even  the 
technical  defense  which  the  Fire  Commissioner  set  up  in  the 
matter  of  his  violation  of  law  in  the  matter  of  awarding 
contracts  in  excess  of  $1,000  without  competitive  bidding.  This 
raises  a  grave  question  of  Mayor  Low's  duty  in  the  premises. 
It  is  not  a  case  where  any  personal  or  political  considerations 
should  be  allowed  to  enter,  even  by  indirection.  The  whole 
test  is,  shall  a  Reform  administration  permit  what  it  would 
vehemently  condemn  a  Tammany  administration  for  allow- 
ing? The  law  is  no  respecter  of  reformers.  *  *  *  It  is  for 
the  Mayor  to  sink  all  thought  of  anything  but  the  unflinch- 
ing and  impartial  execution  of  the  law  and  to  treat  Commis- 
sioner Sturgis  just  as  if  he  were  a  Tammany  hold-over  caught 
in  flagrant  dereliction." 

BONFIRES  BOOMED. 
A  despicable  little  fake  fathered  by  Sturgis  is  being  used  by  the 
Fusion  politicians  in  their  false  claims  of  what  the  administration  has 
done  for  New  York.  His  whole  policy  is  to  issue  misleading  statements, 
but  in  at  least  one  feature  of  this  policy  he  becomes  simply  ridiculous. 
The  poor  clerks  at  Fireman's  Hall  cannot  keep  their  faces  straight  as  they 
juggle  the  figures  to  bolster  up  the  bulletined  boast  that  the  average  Are 
loss  has  been  greatly  reduced  by  the  efficiency  of  the  incumbent  Com- 
missioner. To  be  sure,  the  records  show  the  lower  average,  but  to  be 
complete  and  honest  the  statement  of  this  fact  should  add  that  it  is  due 
to  the  scheme  of  reporting  as  "fires,"  and  cumbering  up  the  record  with 
them,  all  "still  alarms,"  and  even  all  the  cases  where  sparks,  smoke, 
or  perhaps  a  little  blaze,  have  been  heard  of  by  the  firemen.  A  blaze 
In  the  trolley  slot  which  delays  no  cars  and  lasts  scarcely  a  minute,  must 
ffo  on  the  record  if  it  is  learned  of  at  the  nearest  fire  house.   And  if  it  is 


NEW  YORK,  1002-1903 


not  learned  of  and  put  on  the  record  the  "Reform"  Commissioner  Is 
likely  to  hear  of  it  somehow  and  make  trouble.  The  little  bonfire  which 
some  toddling  children  coax  into  a  moment's  fitful  flare,  before  their 
watchful  parents  descend  upon  them  and  extinguish  it  to  warm  them 
by  another  method,  must  not  be  overlooked  in  the  reports  or  in  the  cal- 
culation of  the  average  fire  loss  for  Fusion  campaign  purposes. 

No  previous  administration  ever  burdened  the  records  with  such  rub- 
bish. It  remained  for  a  Fusion  official  to  see  how  such  trifles  could  be 
utilized  to  reduce  the  average  of  fire  losses.  His  order  on  the  subject 
has  been  reiterated  several  times  and  it  is  perfectly  understood  in  the 
department  that  Sturgis  has  got  to  have  a  lot  of  little  fires  somehow  or 
other.  Shortly  after  the  first  promulgation  of  this  order  there  happened 
a  series  of  large  fires  down  town  in  Manhattan.  Night  after  night  flames 
swept  the  business  district  until  the  firemen  were  exhausted  by  over- 
work and  discouraged  by  the  belief  that  the  newly  made  Chief  of  the 
Sturgis  pattern  was  a  hoodoo.  But,  while  these  losses  were  piling  up,  the 
firemen,  under  the  spur  of  the  Commissioner's  order,  were  reporting  all 
the  ten  cent  and  no-damage  bonfires.  Taking  a  $300,000  blaze  with  one 
or  two  of  the  ten-cent  ones,  is  practically  dividing  the  average  fire  loss 
by  two  or  three. 

This  plan  works  out  so  well  in  the  preparation  of  misleading  statis- 
tics for  Citizens'  Union  campaign  purposes  that  on  August  18,  1903,  an- 
other special  order^  stirring  up  the  force  on  the  subject,  was  issued. 
NEW  PROTECTION  NEGLECTED. 
Tiie  time  spent  by  Commissioner  Sturgis  in  long  trials 
of  men  and  officers  under  his  policy  of  oppression  and 
tyranny  and  the  attention  he  has  to  give  to  the  prepara- 
tion of  misleading  statistics,  probably  explain  why  he  has 
not  organized  a  single  new  fire  company  during  his  ad- 
ministration.   Taxpayers  and  citizens  have  made  many 
requests  and  demands  for  additional  protection,  but  noth- 
ing has  been  done  in  this  direction  by  Sturgis. 

MORE  VIOLATIONS  OF  LAW. 
The  Sturgis  record  in  the  matter  of  the  Fire  Marshal  is  another  in- 
stance of  the  utter  disregard  for  the  law  throughout  the  "Fusion" 
administration.  Nothing  could  be  plainer  than  the  charter  provision 
that  there  shall  be  a  Fire  Marshal  and  that  his  salary  shall  be  $3,000 
a  year.  On  taking  office  Sturgis  detailed  Captain  Thomas  F.  Freel,  then 
on  a  captain's  salary  of  $2,160  a  year,  to  perform  the  duties  of  Fire 
Marshal.  Subsequently  Freel  was  promoted  to  Chief  of  Battalion  at 
$3,300  a  year.    He  is  still  detailed  as  Fire  Marshal. 

It  keeps  the  experts  of  the  Finance  Department  busy  to  prevent  the 
Sturgis  administration  of  the  Fire  Department  from  violating  the  law 
and  mixing  things  up  generally.  Early  last  Spring  Mr.  Sturgis  took 
a  notion  to  convert  some  of,  the  bonds  in  the  Fire  Department  Pension 
Fund  into  cash.  True  to  his  policy  of  self-sufficiency  (in  which  he  only 
emulates  his  sponsor,  Mayor  Dow)  he  consulted  no  law  and  no  adviser.  He 
took  from  the  safety  vaults  bonds  of  the  City  of  New  York  to  the  amount 
of  $30,000  and.  on  his  own  responsibility,  sold  them  at  private  sale  to 
friendly  brokers.  It  was  his  intention  to  sell  $20,000  more  of  bonds  in  the 
same  illegal  fashion,  but  Comptroller  Grout  called  a  halt.  The  Finance 
Department  had  soon  learned  to  its  surprise  that  bonds  of  the  city 
were  being  sold  by  a  member  of  the  city  government  at  private  sale, 
and  this,  too,  at  a  time  when  the  cit3r  had  surplus  cash  on  hand.  Mayor 
Low  was  promptly  notified  of  the  misconduct  of  the  Fire  Commissioner, 
but  of  course  did  nothing  about  it.  Several  days  later  the  $20,000  bundle, 
was  quietly  turned  into  the  Comptroller's  office  by  the  Sturgis  secretary 
and  mentor,  Billy  Leary,  and  a  check  for  that  amount  was  in  due  time 
issued  to  the  Fire  Commissioner  as  Trustee  of  the  Pension  Fund. 

PETTY  JEALOUSIES  CONTROL. 
One  of  the  most  contemptible  exhibitions  of  the  infinite  littleness  of 
the  Sturgis  administration  in  the  Fire  Department  is  shown  in  the 
treatment  of  the  search  light  fire  engines.  These  pieces  of  department 
apparatus,  since  their  appearance  four  years  ago  havexbeen  regarded 
by  the  firemen  of  this  city  and  of  the  entire  country  as  among  the 


S4  ,    NEW   YORK,  1002-1903. 

best  inventions  for  the  assistance  of  the  firemen  in  fighting  night  fires. 
But  under  the  present  regime  it  is  seen  that  the  search  light  is  unfortu- 
nate in  having  been  invented  by  Chief  Croker.  Ii  suffered  from  having  the 
fatal  fault  of  bearing  a  name  plate  on  which  Is  engraved  "Croker  Porta- 
ble Search  Light  Fire  Engine."  That  kept  all  three  of  these  machines 
out  of  the  Sturgis  annual  parade  of  the  department,  though  even  the 
little  coffee  wagon  was  in  line.  There  was  no  possible  reason  for  the 
search  lights  to  be  kept  in  quarters  during  the  day,  even  if  they  were 
being  used  whenever  needed  at  night.  But  ihe  fact  is  that,  from  motives 
of  petty  jealousy  and  with  a  reckless  disregard  of  the  safety  of  the 
men,  Chief  Purroy  has  never  ordered  these  machines  used  since  he  has 
"been  Chief.  When  he  is  away  on  vacation,  that  is  forty-eight  hours  every 
week  and  all  the  other  time  he  can  get  the  Commissioner  to  stand  for, 
Chief  Purroy's  substitutes  gladly  use  the  search  light  apparatus  at  big 
night  fires.  They  have  each  a  crew  of  two  men  and  they  are  due  at 
all  second  alarm  fires.  They  cost  $3,000  a  year  in  salaries,  which  amount 
Is  nearly  all  wasted  by  Purroy's  tactics. 

STURGIS  HAS  HUMOR. 
Sturgis  stands  high  with  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Fire  Department 
In  one  particular,  and  that  is  as  a  humorist.    They  liave  on  file  his 
special  order  of  January  16,  1903,  in  which  he  says: 

"Appointments  will  be  made  for- merit*  only.  Faithful, 
service  will  be  recognized  and  transfers  will  only  be  made 
for  the  good  of  the  service. 

Also:  "Do  srour  duty  and  you  are  safe.  An  era  of  favor- 
itism on  the  one  hand  and  tyranny  on  the  other  has  existed 
here.  It  has  passed  away.  Vindictiveness  forms  no  part  of 
the  Commissioner's  policy." 

*    AN  INCOMPETENT  FIRE  CHIEF. 
I  Committed  to   his  appointment  before  he  assumed 

charge  of  the  Fire  Department,  Commissioner  Sturgis  for 
nearly  a  year  has  kept  at  the  head  of  the  uniformed  force  a 
chief  who  is  regarded  by  the  officers  and  firemen  as  thor- 
oughly incompetent. 

So  long  has  the  name  of  Purroy  in  the  Fire  Department  been  asso- 
ciated with  poor  firemanship  that  to-day  Sturgis'  Chief  fails  to  arouse 
1n  his  subordinates  that  enthusiasm  so  necessary  to  a  successful  warfare 
against  fire.  Distrusted  by  his  former  superiors,  Shay,  Bonner  and 
Croker,  the  present  Fire  Chief  is  regarded  as  inferior  in  efficiency  to  the 
officers  he  commands.  The  utter  lack  of  confidence  in  their  Chief  on 
the  part  of  tfie  officers  and  firemen  is  becoming  more  apparent  every 
day.  The  absence  of  enthusiasm  and  effective  discipline  is  noted  at 
every  fire.  Already  the  lives  of  four  brave  firemen  have  been  sacrificed 
at  fires  at  which  Purroy  has  been  in  command,  and  his  judgment,  dis- 
played at  many  large  fires,  has  been  such  that  under  any  other  admin- 
istration it  would  have  warranted  charges  of  incompetency  against  him. 

The  firemen  of  this  city  have  as  their  commander  a  Chief  who  is  old 
and  infirm  at  the  age  of  47,  whose  career  in  the  Fire  Department  has 
won  for  him  an  unenviable  reputation,  whoso  personal  manners  have 
made  him  unpopular  with  every  rank  and  grade,  and  whose  judgment  at 
fires  has  resulted  in  th>'  lo?s  of  hundreds  of  thousand  of  dollars  worth 
of  property. 

It  war;  a  knowledge  of  the  incapacity  of  Purroy  that  caused  Chiefs 
Bonn»  r  and  Croker  to  pass  his  name  when  looking  for  a  substitute  on  a 
vacation  or  a  day  off. 

To  these  great  firemen  Purroy  seemed  to  lack  all  the 
qualities  that  go  to  make  a  commanding  officer,  and  they 
feared  to  leave  such  a  man  in  charge  of  the  department 
even  for  twenty-four  hours. 
That  t.liis  opinion  of  former  Chiefs  was  well  founded  there  is  arnpl* 
evidence  in  the  deplondblo  Judgment  of  Purroy  shown  at  large  fires 
during  the  year.   Blunders  that  would  have  eallei  tor  charges  at  any 
(.:;,.  ,■  i  i . ,  i .  permitted  to  pass  without  comment  by  Sturgis,  who 

did  not  dare  to  criticise *hla  own  appointment. 


NEW   YORK.  1902-1903. 


15 


THE  "TWO  NINES"  FOR  A  SMALL  BLAZE. 
The  sending  out  of  the  dreaded  "two  nines"  for  a  small  first  alarm 
blaze  in  an  uptown  residence  neighborhood  was  surpassed  only  by  the 
amazing  attempt  to  extinguish  a  burning  business  block,  at  the  Fayer- 
weather  &  Ladew  fire  in  East  Houston  street  with  a  handful  of  engines. 
In  each  extreme  it  showed  Purroy  as  he  stands  before  his  own  officers. 
In  the  first  instance  Purroy  found  himself  in  command 
of  a  comparatively  small  fire.     His  companies  did  not 
reach  the  scene  quickly  enough  and  he  lost  his  head. 
In  another  minute  the  department  and  the  city  were  snocked  by  the 
sounding  of  the  "two  nines,"  indicative  of  a  great  conflagration,  and  the 
last  resort  of  the  firemen  to  check  the  progress  of  a  fire.    For  miles  and 
miles  on  every  side  the  streets  and  avenues  were  filled  with  flying 
engines  and  fire  trucks  bound  for  the  street  in  which  stood  Purroy  * 
watching  the  smouldering  embers  of  the  fire.    When  the  companies 
reached  the  scene  they  were  told  to  go  back,  that  their  services  were 
not  needed.    The  officers  looked  at  the  little  fire  that  caused  such  a 
scare,  then  at  Purroy  and  smiled.    It  was  another  instance  of  his  judg- 
ment.   The  streets  in  the  vicinity  of  the  fire  were  congested  with  appa- 
ratus, and  for  nearly  an  hour  a  large  section  of  the  city  was  left  with- 
out fire  protection.    This  blunder  of  Purroy  was  roundly  condemned  by 
everyone  but  one — Thomas  Sturgls. 

It  was  only  a  few  weeks  later  that  the  Fayerweather  &  Ladew  firo 
occurred  in  Houston  street.  Purroy  assumed  command  and  a  third 
alarm  was  sent  in.  Then  followed  a  fourth  alarm.  The  fire  spread 
with  great  rapidity.  Flames  leaped  twenty  feet  in  the  air  and  across 
the  street.  The  fire  officers  wondered  why  a  fifth  alarm  was  not  sent 
in  for  the  fire  was  plainly  getting  away  from  the  firemen.  Purroy 
saw  the  flames  from  the  street.  His  Assistant  Chiefs  looked  for  the 
"two  nines."  but  the  Chief  was  determined  he  would  never  again  sen.i 
in  that  signal. 

And  so  the  fire  burned  and  notwithstanding  that  for 
seven  hours  the  firemen  exhausted  themselves  in  their  ef- 
forts to  keep  the  fire  from  spreading  across  the  street,  the 
chief  refused  to  summon  further  assistance. 
Another  blunder  on  the  part  of  Purroy  that  caused  Commissioner 
Sturgis  much  anxiety  was  committed  at  a  fire  in  Greene  street  only  a 
few  days  later.    The  alarm  sounded  from  box  236.    A  second  and  third 
alarms  were  sent  in  and  Purroy  taking  command  sent  in  a  fourtii 
alarm.    For  several  hours  the  firemen  labored  before  the  blaze  \va* 
under  control. 

Purroy,  from  his  usual  position  in  the  street,  pro- 
nounced the  fire  out  and  ordered  the  companies  home.  Get- 
ting into  his  carriage  he  started  away  from  t.ie  scene. 
A  few  minutes  later  flames  again  burst  forth  from  the 
building. 

The  companies  were  called  -back,  and  with  them  Purroy.  For  the 
second  time  he  sent  a  fourth  alarm  for  the  fire.  Only  after  four  hours' 
desperate  work  were  the  firemen  able  to  master  the  flame1:.  The  error 
of  Purroy  cost  the  property  owners  and  insurance  companies  govern  1 
hundred  thousands  of  dollars.  The  Fire  Chief  was  condemned  on  all 
sides.  To  save  him  from  further  criticism  Commissioner  Stui^i^  ordered 
Fire  Marshal  Freel  to  investigate  and,  to  the  amazement  of  the  fire- 
men, announced  that  his  Fire  Chief  was  not  at  fault,  the  second  fire 
being  in  no  way  caused  by  the  first. 

It  is  the  general  impression  among  firemen  that  Purroy's  only 
interest  in  the  department  is  to  draw  his  pay.  This  impression  Is  the 
result  of  the  go-as-you-please  policy  of  the  Chief,  and  al?o  due  to  the 
fact  that  he  has  been  off  duty  a  greater  length  of  lime  than  any  Chief 
who  ever"  held  the  position.  For  months  he  has  taken  two  days  oft 
every  week,  in  addition  to  an  extended  vacation.  His  officers  are  at 
sea  as  to  when  he  is  on  duty.  The  officers  complain  that  at  fires  he 
regards  his  own  safety  before  that  of  his  men.  He  was  never  com- 
mended for  bravery,  and  the  example  of  Chief  Purroy  standing  out- 
side of  a  building  ordering  subordinates  to  face  the  punishment  has 
bee^  anything  but  encouraging  to  \he  brave  men  who  fight  the  battle. 


N"EW   YORK,  1902-1903. 


LOW=GREENE  POLICE. 


Police  Outrages,  Inefficiency  and  Incapacity—The  Depart- 
ment Ruled  by  Ignorant  Theorists  in  the  Interests 
of  Rural  Republicanism. 

'  Mayor  Low's  methods  in  connection  with  the  administration  of  the 
Police  Department  furnish  convincing  proof  of  his  'absolute  surrender  to 
the  Republican  State  machine.  They  also  furnish  evidence  of  the 
peculiarities  of  his  own  vaccilating  character.  His  first  appointment, 
Colonel  Partridge,  hampered  by  the  effort  of  his  Chief  to  keep  on  both 
sides  of  the  excise  question,  was  unable  to  make  any  impression  upon 
the  Police  Department.  The  Commissioner  was  rather  weak  himself, 
but  he  was  placed  in  a  most  difficult  position  by  the  contradictions  in 
the  record  cf  the  Mayor.  In  his  campaign  efforts  to  secure  the  support 
of  the  friends  of  personal  liberty,  Candidate  Low  had  committed  him- 
self to  a  policy  which  may  be  described  as  liberal.  In  the  same  cam- 
paign his  bait  to  secure  the  suffrages  of  the  church  and  temperance 
element  was  an  expressed  purpose  to  enforce  the  laws  strictly. 

Under  these  discouraging  circumstances  and  his  own  limitations 
of  strength  Commissioner  Partridge  allowed  the  Police  Department  to 
drift  helplessly.  It  was  no  better  than  before  in  the  important  par- 
ticulars which  had  been  severely  attacked  in  the  "Fusion"  campaign. 
The  liquor  dealers,  who  up  to  January  1,  1902,  had  been  taxed  $5  apiece 
for  some  mysterious  purpose  in  connection  with  their  Sunday  opening, 
now  found  that  they  had  $10  or  more  to  pay. 

The  gambling  houses,  places  of  ill  repute,  pool  rooms, 
and  sporting  resorts  of  all  characters  flourished  without 
any  apparent  attempt  to  control  them.  Pulpit  and  prest 
joined  in  ridiculing  the  monumental  failure  of  the  predic 
tions  made  for  the  new  "Fusion"  administration. 

THE   RABBI  JOSEPH  RIOT. 
In  the  direction  of  real  police  work,  the  force  was 
worse  than  before,  discipline  disappeared,  crime  and  vice 
were  rampant  and  the  list  of  murders  undetected  ran  up  to 
the  number  of  scores. 
For  the  first  time  in  many  years  the  streets  of  New  York  were  the 
Bcene  of  a  riotous  demonstration,  which  the  slightest  exhibition  of  police 
foresight  would  have  rendered  impossible.    This  riot  developed  from  an 
exhibition  of  hoodlumism  on   the  occasion  of  the  funeral  of  Rabbi 
Joseph,  a  revered  co-religionist  who  was  idolized  by  the  Jewish  people 
of  the  East  Side.   For  several  days  the  streets  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  synagogue  where  the  body  lay  were  crowded  with  a  surging  throng. 
Every  indication  pointed  to  the  overwhelming  character  of  the  crowd 
that  would  be  attracted  by  the  exercises  and  obsequies.    In  the  neigh- 
borhood were  several  well  known  danger  points,  notably  the  corner 
on  which  a  big  printing  press  factory  stands.    This  corner  had  become 
well  known  as  a  headquarters  of  the  "Whisker  Pullers,"  as  the  per- 
secutors of  helpless  Jews  in  that  neighborhood  are  called.  No  captain  of  a 
precinct,  no  inspector  of  a  district,  no  Deputy  Commissioner  in  charge 
of  the  uniformed  force,  no  Commissioner  at  the  department  s  head  was 
excusable  for  overlooking,  not  the  possibilities,  but  the  probabilities 
of  the  result  that  followed. 

It  testified  to  the  utter  demoralization  of  the  Police 
Department  as  a  factor  in  preserving  order. 
To  be  sure,  when  roused  by  the  outrages  of  the  riotous  crowd,  the 
commanding  officers  rallied,  and  made  a  sufficient  show  of  force  to  quell 
the  disturbance  and  restore  order.    In  doing  this,  however,  they  only 


NEW   YORK.  1002-1903. 


S7 


added  to  the  outrage  on  the  unoffending  Hebrews  by  the  unnecessarily 
harsh  use  of  clubs  and  violence  to  effect  that  purpose. 

The  fellow  citizens  of  the  sufferers  on  this  occasion,  having  in  mind 
the  ^ttravagant  promises  made  in  the  "Fusion"  campaign  that  their 
welfare  would  be-  the  administration's  «ne  thought,  appealed  confidently 
to  Mayor  Low  for  redress,  and  for  the  punishment  of  those  responsible 
for  the  neglect  from  which  they  had  suffered.  They  got  some  fair 
words,  but  no  one  was  punished.  One  police  captain  whose  responsibil- 
ity in  the  matter  was  much  less  than  that  of  any  of  his  commanding 
officers,  or  that  of  the  Commissioner,  was  worried  into  resigning  his 
position,- but  the  real  fault  has  never  been  expiated. 

ODELL  HUNTS  PARTRIDGE. 
Commissioner  Partridge  learned  no  lesson  from  this 
incident,  but  continued  his  easy-going  administration  for 
the  full  year  of  1902.  The  record  of  failures  and  the  list 
of  undetected  crimes,  unsuppressed  disorder  and  flourish- 
ing vice  continued  to  grow. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  the  volume  of  complaint  and  dissatisfaction 
was  so  great  that  any  one  with  less  than  the  smug  self-sufficiency  of 
Mayor  Low  would  have  heeded  it,  and  guided  his  actions  accordingly. 
Made  helpless  by  his  peculiar  characteristics  the  Mayor  did  nothing. 
But  his  Republican  allies,  Governor  Odell  amr  the  rest  came  to  the 
rescue.  They  knew  thai  the  Mayor  was  incapable  of  reaching  a  de- 
cision and  carrying  it  out,  so  they  arranged  for  Commissioner  Partridge 
to  tender  his  resignation.  He  said  that  he  was  sick,  and  his  appearance 
supported  that  assertion,  but  the  department  was  worse  off  than  he 
was.  Governor  Odell's  kindly  administrations  extended  further.  He 
arranged  to  supplant  Partridge  with  General  Francis  Vinton  Greene,  a 
strong  Republican  and  far  from  being  like  Partridge  in  lack  of  vim, 
vigor  and  energy. 

WHAT  WAS  THE  MATTER  WITH  THURSTON? 

During  Col.  Partridge's  term  a  peculiar  experience'  was  had  in  the 
office  of  the  Deputy  Commissioner,  the  position  once  made  conspicuous 
to  the  point  of  notoriety  by  the  incumbency  of  one  Devery,  now  gone 
and  forgotten.  Col.  Partridge  first  put  in  this  position  another  military 
gentleman,  with  militia  experience.  Col.  Thurston,  as  Deputy  Commis- 
sioner. Thurston  was  quite  active  and  .forceful,  especially  in  the  trial 
room,  where  delinquent  policemen  rrere  made  to  tremble  before  him.  H% 
did  not  make  much  of  a  mark  anywhere  else,  and  there  is  considerable 
mystery  about  his  retirement.  It  is  said  that  "Boss"  Cutting,  after  a 
heart  to  heart  talk  with  Thurston  over  some  reports  about  grafting  in 
the  department,  recommended  the  colonel's  resignation,  and  it  was  ten- 
dered and  promptly  accepted. 

GREENE'S  RECORD  KNOWN. 

General  Greene  was  not  unknown  to  the  citizens  of  New  York.  He 
had  served  as  Chairman  of  the  Republican  County  Committee,  and  he 
had  paraded  as  colonel  of  one  of  our  crack  regiments. 

He  had  managed  the  Barber  Asphalt  Company's  busi- 
ness in  this  city,  and  last,  but  not  least,  he  had  promoted 
the  formation  of  the  unsavory  Asphalt  Trust. 

This  last  mentioned  operation  was  remembered  with  sorrow  by  all 
who  had  been  induced  to  invest  in  Greene's  scheme.  It  was  a  gigantic  one 
with  a  capitalization  running  into  many  millions,  but  when  the  bubble 
burst  it  was  found  that  this  capitalization  was  based  upon  very  much 
Inflated  security.  The  plants  and  properties  taken  into  the  consolida- 
tion were  found  after  the  failure  to  have  bee^i  so  taken  at  an  exorbitant 
valuation.  The  sufferers  by  the  collapse  arc  now  seeking,  through  the 
courts,  to  secure  the  return  of  some  part  of  their  losses,  and  it  is 
alleged  that  the  profits  made  in  the  enormous  valuations  of  these  col- 
lected plants  went  largely  into  the  pockets  of  General  Greene.  It  is  in 
this  direction  that  they  are  .looking  for  redress  and  vengeance. 

GREENE— THE  REPUBLICAN  HENCHMAN. 

The  new  Low  Commissioner  speedily  demonstrated  his  energy.  Since 
}  t  has  been  in  office  the  record  of  dismissals,  appointments  and  promo- 


3STBW   YORK.  1902-1903. 


tions  has  exceeded  those  ever  made  by  any  Commissioner  or  board  no 
matter  how  long  a  term  of  service  they  may  have  enjoyed. 

In  view  of  General  Greene's  record  it  goes  without  say> 
ing  that  these  dismissals,  appointments  and  promotions 
were  dictated  entirely  by  political  considerations.  The  mo- 
tive to  Republicanize  the  police  force  was  obvious.  It  was 
part  of  the  game  of  Odell.  Low  &  Co.  to  Republicanize  the 
City  of  New  York. 

General  Greene's  energy  was  also  shown  in  the  direction  of  stiffen- 
ing- up  the  police  in  the  enforcement  of  all  of  the  oppressive  blue 
laws  on  the  statute  books.    Riding  furiously  in  a  red  devil  wagon  the 
Commissioner  spent  his  Sundays  stirring  up  the  patrolmen  and  precinct 
officers  in  this  work.   Not  only  was  the  Excise  law  oppressively  enforced, 
with  its  full  measure  of  discrimination  against  the  people  in  the  poorer 
sections  of  the  city,  where  they  have  no  hotels  or  clubs  to  resort  to, 
but  the  necessary  Sunday  business  of  all  small  tradesmen  was  stopped 
to  the  inconvenience  and  hardship  of  customers  and  store-keepers  alike. 
With  all  this  energy  and  activity  it  unfortunately  re- 
mained true  that  vice  and  crime  received  no  check  and 
there  was  no  improvement  to  be  noted  over  the  conditions 
under  Commissioner  Partridge. 

SHAMEFUL  USE  OF  PUBLIC  FUNDS. 
Commissioner  Greene's  many  activities,  like  his  predecessor's  few 
ones,  took  peculiar  directions.  Public  opinion  was  not  at  all  favorable  to 
them  under  the  circumstances.  Even  if  they  had  been  productive  of 
good  results,  there  would  have  been  much  criticism  of  them.  In  their 
utter  failure  they  were  ridiculous.  The  General  imported  Western 
sleuths,  furnished  them  with  money  to  spend  in  the  Tenderloin,  and 
lisk  in  the  gambling  houses.  General  Greene  backed  up  his  private 
secretary,  "the  never  to  be  forgotteu  Coursey,"  to  the  amount  of  $1,500 
of  the  city's  money  in  a  crusade  upon  the  Tenderloin.  The  crusade 
resulted  in  no  prosecutions  or  convictions,  but  left  Mr.  Coursey  battered 
all  up  by  reason  of  a  row  in  a  saloon.  In  connection  with  this  bill 
Comptroller  Grout  made  a  very  stiff  fight  before  paying  it.  He  thought 
such  use  of  the  public  money  very  objectionable.  Concerning  it  he  said: 
"I  threw  out  two  bills  the  other  day  for  $30,  charged  to  the  Police 
Contingent  Fund  by  two  Central  Office  detectives.  I  got  the  full  story 
of  how  they  spent  the  money.  They  put  on  evening  clothes,  went  to 
the  theatre,  had  supper,  and  then  paid  a  night  hawk  cabman  to  take 
them  to  a  disorderly  house  in  Forty-ninth  street  where,  they  said,  the 
rest  of  the  money  was  spent  on  wine  and  cigarettes  and  in  getting  evi- 
dence. The  women  were  all  of  nge,  and  there  had  been  no  complaint 
against  that  house,  so  that  the  detectives  did  not  have  the  slightest 
excuse  within  reason  for  the  good  time  at  the  expense  of  the  city.  • 
"But  city  money  is  being  used  in  that  way  all  the 
time  and  it  is  an  outrage." 

The  Coursey  methods  of  police  duty  and  those  referred 
to  above  by  Comptroller  Grout  were  carried  to  a  great  ex- 
treme by  Commissioner  Greene. 
A  few  of  the  bills  for  this  particular  work  have  found  their  way  into 
print  and  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  Introduce  them  here.    They  are  merely 


samples  of  hundreds  of  other  bills. 
January  23,  1903: 

Cab  Hire   $4.00 

Cabman,  for  introduction   5.00 

Two  Bottles  of  Champagne   10.00 

Cigarettes  for  Women  35 

Two  Women   122.00 


 $41.35. 

Similar  expenditures  are  credited  to  the  Partridge  administrat u»n 
also,   but  that  administration  larked   the  advertising  advantages  of  a 

Coursey. 

On  April  23  1902,  a  bill  was  rendered  as  follows: 


NEW   YORK.    1902-1 003. 

Paid  Two  Women  of  West  46th  Street  House..  $20.00 

Paid  to  Servant  for  Wine   10.00 

Paid  for  Cab  Hire  '   2.G0 

$32.00 

In  a  campaign  against  a  disorderly  house  on  Broadway,  Williams- 
burg, the  following  expenses  were  incurred: 

January  31,  1903: 
Six  rounds  for  twenty  inmates,  including  whisky,  soft  drinks  and 

and  cigars  !   510.80 

January  31,  1903: 

Dinner  for  two  female  inmates,  officer  and  self   6.i0 

February  1,  1903: 

Four  rounds  of  refreshments  for  fifteen  inmates   7.40 

February  1,  1903: 

Breakfast  for  two  female  inmates,  officer  and  self   4.50 

$29.40 

In  1902,  out  of  321  bills  for  disbursements  of  the  Police  Department,  9$. 
contained  items  aggregating  as  follows: 

Paid  to  women  $987.25 

Paid  for  wine  and  disorderly  houses   172.50 

Paid  for  room  rent   118.55 

$1,278.60 

In  40  out  of  170  bills  for  1903  (this  account  is  only  up  to  May  1)  ar* 
these  totals: 

Paid  to  women   $306.^0 

Paid  for  wine,  etc....   71.40 

Paid  for  room  rent   64.75 

  $442.65 

MORE  REPUBLICAN  PLOTTING. 
Commissioner  Greene  found  lime  in  spite  of  this  energetic  Day  and 
Sunday  Police  duties  of  oppression  to  work  up  a  scheme  with  his  friend 
Governor  Odell  to  secure  legislation  at  Albany  that  would  fix  him  in 
his  position  for  a  ten  years'  term.  The  pretense  of  it.  which  Mayor 
Low  joined  heartily  in  supporting,  was  that  the  necessities  for  reform 
in  the  condition  of  the  department  were  so  great  that  even  an  energetic 
military  gentleman  like  General  Greene  could  not  hope  to-  do  it  in  the 
ordinary  term.  And  this  aftei;  "Fusion"-Reforin  had  been  in  control  a 
■whole  year.  The  Police  Commissioner,  like  other  appointments  in  the 
city  government  made  by  the  Mayor,  is  subject  to  the  power  of  removal 
law,  which  makes  the  Mayor  supreme  over  all  of  them  throughout  his 
whole  term.  It  seemed  to  be  evident  even  in  the  ranks  of  the  Fusion 
forces  that  the  disgusted  people  of  Now  York  would  not  tolerate  their 
administration  beyond  the  current  year.  So  the  Important  position, 
from  the  Republican  machine  standpoint,  of  head  of  the  city  police 
was  worth  doing  something  to  retain.  „ 

This  Greene-Low-Odell  scheme  is  another  one  of  the 
bits  of  conclusive  evidence  of  the  absolute  coalition  of  so- 
called  "Fusion"  in  this  city  and  the  Republican  machine. 
As  an  Albany  correspondent  wrote  to  the  New  York  Sun  on  March  3; 
"Everyone  who  knows  anything  about  politics  can  readily 
understand  why  Governor  Odell  wants  a  friendly  New  York 
City  Police  Commissioner,  who  will  be  in  office  for  several 
years  to  come." 

The  reasons  which  everyone  knows  were  not  the  only  one?  that 
Influenced  Governor  Odell.  He  also  had  his  eye  on  the  fact  that  a  bill 
was  then  on  its  way  through  the  Legislature  making  material  increases 
In  the  New  York  police  force  within  the  ensuing  two  year*.  Knowing 
^  as  he  did  the  well  understood  predilection  of  "Fusion*'  officials  for 
appointing  non-residents  to  office  in  Nsw  York  City.  he  -Was  sure  that 
the  right  Commissioner  in  Mulberry  street  would  be' a  good  political 
investment,  on  account  of  the  chance  this  would  give  for  up-State 
patronage.  However,  this  scheme  of  perpetuating  General  Greene  in 
office  failed.  The  partisan  project  excited  such  general  public  indigna- 
tion that  it  had  to  be  abandoned. 


A') 


NfJW   YORK,    1 901^  1 903. 


OH!    MILES  O'REILLY. 
General  Greene  gayly  turned  again  to  his  campaign  of 
oppressive  enforcement  of  the  Blue  Laws,  which  come  to 
us  from  the  Republican  majority  of  the  Legislature. 

An  instance  of  this  campaign  was  the  installation  xn  charge  of 
what  is  known  as  the  Tenderloin  Precinct  of  a  Police  Captain  who 
secured  his  training  in  Brooklyn,  and  was  utterly  without  metropolitan 
experience,  except  for  a  few  months'  spent  in  the  Fourth  Ward.  As 
might  be  expected,  a  Captain  with  such  experience  working  on  the  lines 
of  such  a  Commissioner  as  Greene,  and  with  such  weapons  as  the 
country-made  Blue  Laws  was  very  much  out  of  place  in  the  centre  of 
the  city's  hotel  and  amusement  life. 

He  floundered  about  in  ludicrous  fashion,  making  blundering  arrests 
and  fruitless  raids.  He  was  openly  laughed  at  by  the  inhabitants  of  his 
precinct,  and,  in  fact,  by  the  public  generally.  Even  General  Greene's 
hardihood  was  not  equal  to  keeping  up  the  farce,  and  it  was  not  long  be- 
fore Captain  Miles  O'Reilly  was  relegated  to  the  quiet  of  Brooklyn,  from 
which  he  had  emerged.  On  his  return  to  Brooklyn,  he  gave  even  more 
ample  testimony  to  the  unsuitable  character  of  his  equipment  for 
metropolitan  police  work.  As  though  confirmed  in  an  appetite  for  sen- 
sationalism by  his  New  York  experience,  he  made  a  bid  to  remain  in 
the  public  eye  by  inaugurating  a  crusade  against  public  euchre  parties 
in  Brooklyn.  He  found  that  playing  cards  were  used  in  the  game, 
that  they  were  shuffled  the  same  as  real  gamblers  shuffle  cards,  and 
that  there  were  prizes  such  as  gold  clocks,  fishing  sets,  bric-a-brac  and 
fancy  neckties,  won  at  these  parties.  This  was  sufficient  to  rouse  him 
to  action. 

"Why,"  he  is  quoted  as  saying,  "it  certainly  looks  as 
though  there  were  something  for  me  to  do.  I  am  not  dead 
sure  that  the  parties  are  not  on  the  level,  but  tney  look 
suspicious,  and  if  they  are  crooked — why,  they  have  come  to 
the  wrong  precinct  to  run  them.  Miles  O'Reilly  won't  stand 
for  such.  Sure  I  would  not  arrest  the  women  the  first  time, 
but  you  bet  I  would  take  them  by  the  arm  and  say:  'Get  into 
some  other  business,  my  dear,  or  move  on.  This  won't  do  in 
O'Reilly's  precinct.'    That's  the  way  I  Avould  talk  to  them." 

POLICE  OPPRESSION  DENOUNCED. 
General  Greene's  zeal  to  enforce  the  Blue  Laws  enacted  by  his  party 
friends  led  him  from  the  extreme  of  ,the  ridiculous,  as  shown  in  the 
case  of  Captain  O'Reilly  to  the  extreme  of  oppression  in  the  case  of 
many  raids.  Such  raids  were  so  numerous  and  so  outrageous  in  their 
character  that  Supreme  Court  Justice  William  J.  Gaynor  went  on 
record  in  public  denunciation  of  them,  in  January,  1903.  The  strong 
language  Judge  Gaynor  used  was  as  follows: 

''The  idea  that  the  police  may  trample  under  foot  the 
law  regulating  their  conduct,  in  order  to  make  other  people 
observe  the  law  regulating  theirs  is  strange  indeed.  It  is 
wholly  inconsistent  with  free  government  and  belongs  to 
despotism. 

-Thrre  seems  to  be  more  lawless  and  brutal  arrests  and  house 
invasions  than  ever  before  in  the  City  of  New  YOrk.  Within  a  few 
weeks  over  1,000  persons,  men  and  women,  have  been  arrested  in 
batches  and  locked  up  over  night,  without  being  even  so  much  as  ac- 
cused by  the  police  or  any  one  else  of  any  criminal  acts  whatever. 
Many  of  these  people  were  mere  visitors  to  the  city,  who  stepped  into 
the  cafe  of  some  licensed  place,  and  in  a  little  while  found  themselves 
locked  up  for  the  night.  The  recent  lawless  and  brutal  arrest  and 
incarceration  in  that  way  of  126  persons  in  Manhattan  is  only  a  sample. 
The  Captain  and  a  retinue  of  his  policemen  arrested  these  people  at  the 
cipar  counter  and  bar  and  seated  at  tables  in  the  cafe  on  the  street 
floor  of  a  hotel  open  to  the  public  under  a  license  from  tne  State,  and 
where  any  one  had  a  right  to  be.   They  did  not  let  a  soul  ascape. 

"The  prisoners  being  arraigned  in  court  the  following  morning,  the 
Magistrate  asked  the  Captain:  'What  charge  do  you  make  against 
these  prisoners?' 


TCEVS    YORK     190&-  1008. 


41 


"  'I  make  no  charge,'  answered  the  Captain. 

''Then  why  did  you  arrest  them  and  bring  them  here?'  asked  the 
Magistrate. 

"  'To  suppress  vice,'  answered  the  Captain,  wholly  unconscious  ap- 
parently that  there  are  more  vices  than  one,  and  that  he  was  guilty 
of  a  most  dangerous  vice  by  his  lawless  conduct. 

"  Did  you  see  them  commit  any  criminal  offense?*  inquired  the 
Magistrate. 

"  'No,'  said  the  Captain. 

"The  Magistrate  told  him  he  had  committed  a  great  wrong.  He 
could  have  told  him  t#at  he  had  committed  a  grave  crime  of 
oppression,  defined  in  the  Penal  Code,  and  held  him  for  trial  therefor. 
In  the  same  way  a  batch  of  70  were  arrested  while  seated  at  tables  in 
a  public  restaurant  licensed  by  the  State  over  here  in  Brooklyn,  locked 
up  over  night  and_  discharged  by  a  Magistrate  next  morning  for  lack  of 
any  charge  against  them.  No  one  knows  why  they  were  raided  and 
arrested.  They  were  in  a  restaurant  which  is  a  rival  of  another  restau- 
rant for  after  theatre  custom.  Are  the  police  to  serve  one  lival  by 
extinguishing  the  other? 

"Batches  of  63  persons,  230  persons  and  so  on  through  a  long  list 
were  recently  treated  in  the  same  way  in  Manhattan." 

This  attitude  of  Justice  Gaynor  received  very  cordial  support  In  the 
columns  of  many  of  the  newspapers.  The  others  were  so  wedde/i  to 
their  idols  of  "Fusion"  that  they  refrained  from  taking  cognisance  of 
this  judicial  denunciation  of  the  •Fusion"  Police  Commissioner's  out- 
rages. 

Even  later,  when  the  outrages  were  magnified  to  such  an  extent 
that  a  total  of  593  citizens  were  subjected  to  the  indignity  of  police 
seizure,  these  "Fusion"  organs  were  silent.    The  Sun,  however,  referring 
to  this  wholesale  arrest  of  more  than  half  a  thousand  citizens  said: 
"The  responsibility  for  these  illegal  acts  threatening  the 
rights  of  every  citizen  must  go  right  through  the  police  to  its 
highest  officer.    Clearly  the  responsibility  for  these  acts  rests 
on  the  Department  of  Police.    The  Commissioner  of  Police  is 
responsible  to  the  public  for  the  conduct  of  the  department, 
and  a  man  inspired  with  a  due  sense  of  right  and  wrong 
would  have  issued  the  order  needed  to  bring  the  department 
to  its  senses  weeks  ago.   Judge  Gaynor's  view  of  the  situation 
is  of  the  essence  of  that  personal  liberty  which  is  always 
regarded  in  this  country  as  among  the  most  sacred  posses- 
sions of  its  citizens." 

MAYOR  LOW  APPEALED  TO  IN  VAIN. 
Even  District  Attorney  Jerome  was  obliged  as  the  law  officer  of  this 
community  to  withhold  his  indorsement  and  even  condemn  these  prac- 
tices of  the  "Fusion"  Police  Commissioner.  In  all  this  Mayor  Low's 
complacency  remained  unruffled.  No  thought  of  reproving  the  over- 
sealous  and  law  defying  Police  Commissioner  ever  entered  his  head.  No 
response  was  evoked  from  him  when  he  was  called  upon  by  the  press 
to  declare  himself  on  the  subject.  He  was  even  deaf  to  such  a  notice 
as  the  following,  printed  in  an  influential  New  York  paper: 

"It  is  the  duty  of  the  Commissioner  of  Police  to  pre- 
vent a  repetition  of  the  outrages  which  called  forth  Jus- 
tice Gaynor's  letter.  If  he  neglects  to  exercise  his  power 
to  this  end,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Mayor  to  remove  him  from 
office." 

The  Mayor  did  not  act  nor  did  the  Police  Commissioner  prevent 
the  repetition  many  times  of  these  outrages. 

POLICE    ATTACKED    FROM  PULPIT. 

The  general  inefficiency  of  the  police  in  the  suppression  of  vice, 
the  control  or  direction  of  real  criminals  was  constantly  shown  all  this 
time.  In  April,  the  Rev.  Cortland  Myers,  pastor  of  the  Baptist 
Temple  in  Brooklyn,  was  obliged  to  take  up  the  cudgels  against  the 
police  to  stir  them  up  and  prevent  gambling  and  crime,  from  securing 
a  foothold  in  the  neighborhood  of  his  church.  He  accused  the  police 
of  inefficiency  and  said  that  gambling  and  vice  were  becoming  prevalent 
In  the  district  referred  to.    Deputy  Commissioner  Ebstein  denied  the 


42 


NF.W    YORK.  1902-1.003. 


charges  and  endeavored  to  bring  the  reverend  gentlemen  into  ridicule 
for  having  made  them.  Mr.  Myers  retorted  by  reading  from  his  pulpit 
one  Sunday  morning  a  list  of  the  various  places  in  which  his  investiga- 
tions had  shown  that  bookmaking,  other  forms  of  gambling  and  vice 
flourished.  Even  in  the  face  of  these  particulars,  the  police  authorities 
denied  the  truth  of  the  charges,  and  took  no  steps  to  remedy  the  condi- 
tions complained  of.  Three  weeks  later,  the  reverend  gentleman  was 
able  to  stand  up  in  his  pulpit  and  make  the  following  statement: 

"Three  weeks  ago  I  read  from  this  platform  a  lLst  of  25 
pool  rooms  in  this  city,  and  declared  the  police  were  either 
blind  or  guilty  in  the  face  of  the  startling  conditions,  and 
that  in  either  instance  they  were  unfit  for  the  trust  and 
responsibility  imposed  upon  them.    The  head  of  the  Police 
Department  was  interviewed  upon  what  I  said,  and  he  tried 
to  laugh  me  out  of  court.    The  Inspector  of  Police  h>d  no 
other  hiding  place,  so  he  adopted  the  same  method.    But  I 
stand  before  the  public  to-day,  with  a  bunch  of  indictments 
from  the  Grand  Jury  with  the  arrest  of  the  alleged  criminals 
and  the  unquestioned  exposure  of  the  police,  and  with  more 
to  follow,  for  the  battle  is  to  a  finish." 
Shortly  after  this,  Deputy  Commissioner  Ebstein  took  refuge  in  a  trip 
to  Europe  ostensibly  for  a  rest  and  to  inspect  the  Police  Department 
of  Berlin.    This  gave  the  Rev.  Mr.  Myers  his  opportunity  to  have  a 
laugh  on  Ebstein.   He  said  of  him: 

"He  has  proven  himself  unfit  for  the  office  he  holds.  If 
he  is  ignorant  'Shame.'  If  any  other  guilt  attaches  to  his 
office  'twice  shame.'  What  a  minister  or  any  other  citizen 
can  find  out  he  can.  He  is  overworked,  according  to  reports, 
and  is  going  to  Europe  for  a  rest.  I  have  done  his  work  for 
the  last  two  months  and  have  not  received  a  cent  of  pay. 
I  deserve  at  least  that  the  vacation  should  come  to  me,  and 
if  he  is  going  to  Berlin  to  inspect  the  Police  Department  of 
that  city,  I  could  do  it  as  well  as  he,  perhaps  better.  The 
Inspector  of  Police  made  a  boyish  bluff  and  said  that  he  • 
would  give  a  donation  to  my  church  if  I  would  show  him 
one  pool  room  in  Brooklyn.  He  did  not  say  how  much  his 
donation  was  to  be,  but  if  it  is  measured  by  the  size  of  his 
police  ability,  this  church  has  no  use  for  him.  I  have  been 
asked  why  I  did  not  give  that  list  of  pool  rooms  to  the  Police 
Department  before  making  it  public.  We  had  given  such  a 
list  to  the  Police  Department  once,  and  nothing  was  ever 
done  with  it." 

In  September  Commissioner  Greene  appointed  815  new  patrolmen, 
is  Commissioner  Greene  is  a  Fusion-Odell-Lcw  officer,  and  the  Civil 
Service  Commissioners  are  also  allies  of  the  Republican  State  Machine, 
it  goes  without  saying  that  a  large  proportion  of  these  appointees  were 

Son-residents  of  this  city.  The  condition  which  resulted  when  thU 
atch  of  new  appointees  were  sent  on  post  is  thus  described  in  a  daily 
lewspapcr: 

"NEW  COPS  BEWILDERED. 

"Unable  to  Locate  City  Hall  Park  and  Chatham  Square." 

"Some  of  the  315  new  patrolmen  appointed  by  Commis- 
sioner Greene  yesterday  are  having  a  hard  time  learing  the 
geographical  construction  of  their  new  posts.  In  a  certain 
precinct  near  the  City  Hall  a  sergeant  turned  some  of  the 
recruits  out  on  post  for  the  first  time  yesterday.  One  of  them 
said  hesitatingly  that  he  didn't  know  where  to  go. 

"  'Your  post  Is  near  City  Hall  Park,'  directed  the  ser- 
geant. 

"'Wh- Where  is  City  Hall  Pari;'1'  sl;itVr.-d  tin-  embarrassed 
policeman.  Another  caused  astonishment  on  account  of  his 
ignorance  of  the  location  of  Chatham  Square.  • 

"Much  wonderment  Is  expressed  at  this  lack  of  geographi- 
cal knowledge,  as  In  the  Civil  Service  ratings  a  percentage  of 
26  is  allowed  for  'city  information.'  " 


"NEW    YORK,  1902-1903. 


ASPHALT  GREENE  MORALIZING. 

In  turning  loose  this  batch  of  new  policemen,  Commissioner  Greene 
presented  certificates  of  appointment  to  them  in  the  Sixty-ninth  Regi- 
ment Armory,  and  also  presented  them  with  some  gems  of  good  advice. 
To  do  these  countrymen  credit,  it  must  be  said  that  they  are  intelligent 
newspaper  readers,  and  seemed  to  be  fully  cognizant  of  their  lecturers' 
unsavory  connection  with  the  Asphalt  Trust.  The  edifying  exercises 
in  the  armory  are  described  by  one  who  was  present: 

"While  Greene  eloquently  pictured  the  trials  and  temptations  that 
beset  the  New  York  policemen  on  all  sides,  he  unfortunately  made  a 
little  break  which  destroyed  the  effect  of  his  words,  and  almost  upset 
the  strict  discipline  that  the  fledgling  cops  were  displaying.  'I  warn  you 
most  impressively,  never  to  yield  to  temptation,  and  to  repeatedly  spurn 
it,  in  whatever  shape  or  manner  it  may  come  to  you,  for  sooner  or 
later,  you  will  be  found  out.'  "  % 

There  were  several  half  smothered  snickers  audible  in  the  drill 
room,  and  several  of  the  new  policemen  flushed  an  appopletic  red  in 
their  efforts  to  suppress  an  outburst  or  laughter.  As  for  Greenes'  mor- 
alization  and  the  effect  it  had  upon  his  raw  recruits  that  afternoon  it 
has  been  frequently  described  in  station  house  section  room,  and  it  never 
fails  to  provoke  unlimited  mirth. 


ASPHALT  GREENE. 


A  Sample  Brick  in  the  Fusion  Structure — Accused  of  Swin- 
dling Widows  and  Orphans — Get-Rich-Quick  Methods. 

Had  a  member  of  the  uniformed  police  force  been  accused  of  the 
peculiar  acts  in  connection  with  the  wrecking  of  the  Asphalt  Trust,  as 
General  Greene,  the  "Fusion"  Police  Commissioner,  has  had  charged  up 
to  him,  he  would  have  been  instantly  suspended  by  the  Commissioner 
himself.  By  the, exposures  in  the  proceedings  of  the  United  States  Court, 
at  Trenton,  before  Judge  Kirkpatrick,  these  acts  can  only  be  classed  as 
a  criminal  conspiracy,  cunningly  devised. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  scheme  had  absorbed  the 
trust  funds  of  widows,  orphans  and  innocent  persons. 

The  spoliation  was  in  progress  for  eighteen  months.  The  men  who 
promoted  the  Asphalt  Trust  with  General  Greene  were  regarded  as 
citizens  of  solid  respectability  and  social  and  financial  prestige. 

The  Trust  was  formed  under  the  obliging  laws  of  New  Jersey  on 
July  6,  1S99,  with  a  capital  authorized  at  $30,000,000  in  shares  of  $50  each. 
It  was  designated  in  the  articles  of  incorporation  as  The  Asphalt  Com- 
pany of  America. 

In  exchange  for  the  securities  of  the  properties  acquired,  there  were 
issued  $30,000,000  five  per  cent,  collateral  gold  trust  certificates.  The 
stock  won  confidence.  Bankers  and  trust  companies  bought  the  certifi- 
cates, and  trustees  of  estates,  guardians  of  widows  and  orphans,  in- 
vested trust  funds,  paying  from  90  to  97  per  cent,  of  the  face  value. 

In  1900,  John  M.  Mack  combined  several  independent  companies,  and 
Jie  and  a  few  associates,  under  the  name  of  the  National  Asphalt  Com- 
pany, were  "taken  in"  by  the  Trust.  Some  of  the  Mack  plants  were 
worth  only  a  few  thousands.  Then  the  unassessed  liability  of  $40  a  share 
on  the  American  company  was  converted  into  National  5  per  cent,  bonds, 
of  which  $6,000,000  were  issued.  When  the  market  quotations  of  the 
bonds  fell  on  November  14,  1901,  the  promoters  announced  that  the 
intrinsic  A'alue  of  the  securities  was  as  first  represented,  but  bonds  which 
had  been  unloaded  upon  the  public  at  95  sold  at  46.  Before  the  end 
of  December  they  had  reached  27^.  A  "protective  committee"  of  men 
of  the  highest  standing  was  appointed  to  acquire  all  the  bonds  that  it 
could. 

The  promoters  agreed  to  pay  $2,250,000,  and  received  the  bonds  and 
$4,500,000  common  stock  of  the  newly-formed  General  Asphalt  Company. 


44 


NEW   YORK.  1902—1903. 


Preferred  stock  was  issued  to  the  defrauded  bondholders  at  the  ratio  of 
1  to  2,  and  the  "collateral  gold  certificates"— selling  them  at  22— disap- 
peared from  sight. 

Then  Hepry  Tatnall  was  appointed  Receiver  of  the  Trust  upon 
application  of  several  persons  who  charged  a  combine  to  "freeze"  them 
out.  In  the  course  of  his  investigation,  the  Receiver  applied  to  Judge 
Kirkpatrick.  of  the  United  States  Court,  at  Trenton,  N.  J.,  for  an  order, 
which  was  granted,  directing  him  to  proceed  against  General  Francis 
Vinton  Greene,  Police  Commissioner  of  New  York;  Amzi  L.  Barber, 
George  W.  Elkins,  J.  J.  Albright,  Edward  Hayes,  C.  K.  Robinson,  E.  B. 
Warren,  W.  L.  Elkins,  G.  S.  Wiedner,  S.  F.  Tyler,  W.  J.  Latta,  W.  H. 
Crocker  and  H.  C.  Spinks,  to  account  for  and  pay  over  profits  which 
they  were  alleged  to  have  made  in  the  organization  of  the  Asphalt  Com- 
pany of  America  in  connection  with  acquiring  subsidiary  companies. 

It  was  estimated  by  the  Receiver  that  after  distributing  all  the 
moneys  received,  there  would  remain  due  and  unpaid,  without  assets, 
more  than  $27,750,000  by  way  of  deficiency  on  the  creditors'  claims. 

General  Greene  wa£  the  most  active  in  the  formation 
of  the  Trust,  and  his  share  of  the  profit  upon  the  merging 
of  the  companies  amounted  to  more  than  cne  million 
dollars. 

Henry  Tatnall,  Receiver  for  the  Trust,  contends  that  the  men  who 
promoted  the  scheme  privately  bought  large  holdings  of  stock  in  the 
subsidiary  companies  at  cheap  prices,  and  then  turned  in  their  holdings 
to  the  big  company  at  par,  receiving  therefor  gold  certificates  to  an 
amount  thus  scandalously  excessive.  He  estimated  the  profits  thus 
squeezed  from  the  investors  in  the  bonds  to  be  $4,000,000.  Examples  of 
this  scheme  follow: 

Amzi  L.  Barber,  father-in-law  of  Genera!  Greene; 
General  Greene  himself,  and  George  W.  Elkins  bought  up 
13,325  shares  each  of  stock  in  the  United  Asphalt  Com- 
pany, paying  therefor  in  money  and  obligations,  $613,000. 
They  transferred  them  to  the  Asphalt  Company  of  Amer- 
ica, receiving  therefor  gold  certificates  amounting  to  $3,- 
670,000.  At  the  lowest  market  price  during  the  month 
when  the  transfer  was  made,  their  profits  were  $2,666,560. 

GENERAL  GREENE,  Amzi  L.  Barber,  Edmund  Hayes, 
George  D.  Weidener,  C.  K.  Robinson,  G.  W.  Elkins  and 
E.  Burgess  Warren  bought  1.515  shares  of  the  New  Trin- 
idad Lake  Asphalt  Company.  Limited,  at  $48.50  a  share, 
and  transferred  it  to  the  Asphalt  Company  of  America 
at  $100  a  share. 

Greene,  Barber  and  Elkins  transferred  9,493  shares  of  tho  Warren- 
Scharf  Asphalt  Paving  Company  of  America  to  the  Asphalt  Company 
of  America  at  an  estimated  profit  of  $539,096. 

The  official  action  taken  by  the  receiver  was  mapped  out  along 
these  lines.  First,  he  brought  suit  against  the  promoters  of  the  Asphalt 
Company  of  America.  Second,  he  start?d  proceedings  against  the  regis- 
tered holders  of  the  company's  stock,  to  recover  the  assessment  liability 
of  $24,000,000.  The  Court  advised,  however,  that  this  action  be  delayed 
until  the  first  suit  was  settled.  Thirdly,  he  is  to  proceed  against  John 
M.  Marks  and  his  asso<  iatr-s  tu  compol  them  to  reimburse  investors 
who  lost  money  through  the  Fame  kind  of  manipulation  as  the  Greene- 
Barber  group  practiced. 

The  court  records  show  that  the  Asphalt  Company  of  America,  paid 
In  gold  certificates  for  stock  the  following  suns  per  share: 

Atlantic  Alcatraz  Asphalt,  $1,000,  par  value  $100; 
Soutnern  Asphalt  Company,  $1,020,  par  value  $100:  Alca- 
traz Paving  Company,  $500.  par  value  $50;  Utica  Paving 
Company,  $510,  par  value  $100;  Barber  Asphalt  Paving 
Compuny.  $300,  par  value  $100;  New  Trinidad  Lake  As- 
phalL  $100,  par  value  $48.50;  Warren-Sc  harf  Asphalt  Com- 
pany, $240,  par  value  $100;  Alcattaz  Asphalt  Com- 
pany, $160.  par  value  $100;   Alcatraz   Company  of  West 


NEW   YORK.  190C-1903. 


45 


Virginia,  $6,  par  value  $5;  Denver  Paving  Company,  $5, 
par  value  $1;  Alcatraz  Construction  Company,  $104,  par 
value  $100. 

As  if  expecting  some  such  result  as  civil  or  criminal  proceeding*, 
the  interested  persons,  it  is  charged,  procured  the  passage  of  an  act 
last  Spring  in  the  New  Jersey  Legislature,  limiting  the  period  during 
which  promoters  may  be  sued  ^recover  unlawful  profits  to  four  years 
after  the  making  of  such  profits:  Consequently  it  became  necessary  for 
the  Receiver  to  begin  the  suits  on  July  5,  1903.  Under  this  new  law 
the  time  limit  on  the  asphalt  promoters  would  have  expired  before  the 
next  term  of  court. 

Mayor  Low  was  asked  when  the  scandal  was  exposed  if  he  did  not 
consider  it  his  duty  to  suspend  General  Greene  as  Police  Commissioner 
pending  the  trial  of  the  suits.    He  replied: 
"I  have  nothing  to  say." 
When  Corporation  Counsel  Rives  was  asked  if  the  Mayor  had  power 
to  remove  or  suspend  General  Greene,  he  merely  said: 
"I  consider  it  impertinent  to  ask  me  such  a  question." 
General  Greene  did  not  resign.    He  refused  to  discuss  the  subject, 
but  said  briefly: 

"I  feel  confident  that  the  decision  will  be  against  the 
Receiver,  but  if  the  courts  determine  otherwise  and  finally 
decide  that  I  have  injured  any  one,  I  must,  of  course,  abide 
by  the  decision  and  make  reparation  to  the  utmost  limit  of 
my  ability.  When  the  Asphalt  Company  of  America  was 
formed  I  was  guided  by  the  advice  of  the  best  counsel  I 
<:ould  obtain," 

Which  means,  of  course,  that  if  he  could  get  away 
with  the  profits  and  escape  criminal  prosecution  he  would 
do  so,  but  that  there  was  any  moral  reason  why  he  should 
make  restitution,  he  did  not  appear  to  recognize. 
•'Reparation"  was  the  word  he  used  instead  of  "restitution." 
The  Republican  machine  caused  a  law  to  be  passed  giving  the 
Governor  of  the  State  power  to  remove  a  Commissioner  of  Police  in 
New  York.    On  this  point  the  New  Tork  Sun  said  editorially  on  July 
20,  1903: 

"The  real  purpose  of  this  provision  has  been  defeated  by 
the  act  of  the  Governor  of  this  State.  At  the  very  time  when 
the  present  Police  Commissioner  Greene,  Mayor  Low's  ap- 
pointee, is  under  charges,  the  gravity  of  which  would,  in  the 
case  of  a  member  of  the  uniformed  force,  lead  to  his  summary 
suspension,  the  Governor  accompanies  the  accused  Commis- 
sioner on  a  midsummer  pleasure  trip  over  the  Great  Lakes 
and  across  the  continent!" 

"What  must  be  the  effect  upon  the  police  force  of  the 
continued  presence  of  General  Greener'"  asked  the  Brooklyn 
Citizen  on  August  16,  1903,  "with  the  revelation  of  his  asphalt 
record  brought  prominent  to  the  public  view,  at  the  head  of 
the  department?  Is  the  protection  of  the  morals  of  the  com- 
munity placed  in  the  right  hands  when  the  chosen  instrument 
of  the  administration  is  a  man  who  confesses  that  there  is  a 
possibility  that  he  committed  a  moral  wrong  in  the.  formation 
of  the  Asphalt  Trust,  and  that  if  the  courts  decide  against  him 
he  is  willing  to  make  restitution  to  the  full  extent  of  his 
ability?" 

Such  is  the  official  who  is  the  recognized  guardian  of  the  property, 
character,  peace  and  morals  of  the  City  of  Greater  New  York. 

New  York  City  has  had  an  experience  with  the  Trust  whi^h  was 
not  only  mostly  in  a  financial  sense,  hut  dangerous  to  health  in  the 
shameful  condition  of  its  streets  and  asphalt  pavements  which  needed 
repairing.  It  was  alleged  many  times  that  contractors  refused  to 
repair  the  damage  and  wear  and  tear,  as  they  knew  that  the  influence 
of  General  Greene  would  support  them  as  customers  of  the  Asphalt 
Trust. 


Vote  against  Republicanism  masked  as  non-cartisanship. 


NEW   YCPwX.  1902-1003. 


MAGISTRATE  HOGAN  ON  POLICE  BLACKMAIL 


"Fusion"  Graft  Exposed — The  IWw-Greene  Administration 
Covers  Up  Corruption  in  the  Police  Department — Who 
Is  the  Fusion  John  Doe? 

In  urging  its  claims  for  the  election  of  Low  and  his  associates  two 
years  ago,  the  Fusionists  repeatedly  assailed  the  condition  of  the  Police 
Department,  as  managed  by  the  Democratic  administration  then  in 
power,  and  alleged  on  every  available  occasion  that  crime  was  allowed 
to  flourish  in  its  most  obnoxious  forms,  that  extortion,  blackmail  and 
numerous  other  kinds  of  corruption  existed  among  and  were  protected 
by  policemen,  and  that  .the  revenue  received  from  these  nefarious  prac- 
tices was  shared  in,  not  only  by  those  in  subordinate  position  in  the 
department,  but  also  by  those  "higher-up,"  who  (it  was  admitted),  could 
not  be  traced  by  name,  but  whom  for  convenience  they  called  "John 
Doe."  This  condition  and  these  practices  they  promised  to  stamp  out. 
When,  therefore,  they  were  successful  at  the  polls  in  November,  it  was 
expected  that  great  results  would  flow  from  their  efforts  in  this,  if  in 
no  other,  direction.  From  the  lowest  to  the  highest  member  of  the 
force  all  kinds  of  vice,  it  was  supposed,  would  be  eliminated. 

Two  years  have  almost  passed  since  that  party  of  great  promises 
took  office,  and  what  is  the  result?  Have  they  made  good  their  word 
as  respects  the  Police  Department?  Have  they  turned  it  into  the 
place  of  purity  they  claimed  it  could  be  made?  It  is  the  general  opinion 
that  they  have  not.  It  is  also  the  fact.  Those  were  hypocritical 
promises  they  made  for  campaign  purposes,  which  they  never  had  any 
Intention  of  carrying  out,  irrespective  of  the  question  of  their  being  able 
to  do  so. 

Under  the  "Fusion"  administration  some  policemen, 
some  captains  and  some  sergeants  have  been  levying  and 
collecting  money  from  persons  violating  the  law  as  the 
price  of  allowing  them  to  do  so. 

That  some  police  officials  also  did  this  under  other  administrations 
cannot  be  denied.  Several  instances  follow,  the  continuance  of  such 
practices  from  the  commencement  of  the  Low  regime. 

But  the  peculiarities  of  "Reform"  reasoning  result  in  quite  a  dif- 
ferent treatment  on  the  subject  now.   Instead  of  treating  the  disclosures 
of  these  conditions  as  a  reflection  upon  the  "Fusion"  administration  and 
as  leading  up  to  a  "Fusion"  John  Doe,  Mayor  Low  and  Commissioner 
Greene,  take  refuge  in  efforts  to  suppress  the  facts  and  in  denials  that 
no  one  believes.    Magistrate  Hogan,  Magistrate  Ommen,  and  others  who 
have  the  public  spirit  and  the  courage  to  attack  the  "Fusion"  system 
of  graft  are  reviled,  accused  of  partisanship  and  made  the  objects 
of  unprincipled  and  unscrupulous  attempts  to  bring  them  into  discredit. 
THE  WEINBERG-SOLLISH  OUTRAGE. 
At  No.  247  West  Thirty-ninth  street  a  disorderly  house 
had  been  running  for  some  time  previous  to  June  23,  1903, 
unmolested  by  the  police;  but  on  the  evening  of  that  day 
at  the  request  of  one  Weinberg  and  a  young  girl  named 
Julia  Sollish,  who  claimed  that  her  sister  was  an  inmate 
of  that  house,  Officers  Zimmerman  and  O'Rourke  were  de- 
tailed by  Sergeant  Nash,  of  the  West  Thirty-seventh  Street 
Station,  to  go  with  them  to  that  address. 
When  they  arrived  there  the  officers  went  inside,  telling  Weinberg 
and  the  young  girl  to  wait  for  them.    The  officers  returned  In  a  few 
minutes  and  had  the  young  man  and  girl  go  in  with  them.    Upon  being 
admitted  Weinberg  and  his  companion  were  tcid  that  her  sister  was  not 
there,  in  which  the  officers  seemed  to  acquisce;  but  as  Weinberg  and  his 


NEW   YORK,  1002-1903. 


47 


companion  insisted  that  she  was  there  she  was  at  last  produced.  Then 
Weinberg  was  asked  to  go  to  the  Pennsylvania  Hotel,  at  Thirty-sixth  or 
Thirty-seventh  street,  for  Captain  P'erris,  of  the  West  Thirty-seventh 
Street  Station,  which  he  did  without  success,  and  returned  to  the  house 
to  find  the  captain  mysteriously  there. 

The  proprietress  of  the  house,  Minnie  Lewis,  and  the 
other  inmates  thereof,  including  the  young  girl's  sister, 
were  then  taken  to  the  West  Thirty-seventh  Street  Station 
House,  where  they  gave  bail.    Weinberg  was,  however, 
sent  to  a  cell,  on  a  ridiculous  charge  of  disorderly  conduct 
instigated  by  the  real  offenders. 
The  bail  given  for  two  of  the  inmates  and  accepted  at  that  time  was 
executed  by  Minnie  Lewis,  the  proprietress  of  that  disorderly  house  as 
surety,  under  the  name  of  Millie  Pelta.    She  gave  the  disorderly  house  as 
security,  claiming  she,  owned  it,  when  in  fact  it  was  owned  jointly  by 
herself  and  husband. 

If  Officers  O'Rourke  and  Zimmerman  were  entirely  honest  and  above 
board,  and  had  no  relations  with  the  proprietress  of  the  West  Thirty- 
ninth  street  house  of  which  they  were  ashamed  or  which  they  did  not 
wish  to  be  scrutinized,  why  did  they  not  allow  Weinberg  and  his  com- 
panion to  enter  when  they  did  and  not  cause  them  to  remain  outside? 
The  answer  to  this  question  is  not  hard  to  read  by  any  one  desiring 
the  truth. 

THE  POLICE  MOTIVE  PLAIN. 
If  Captain  Ferris  was  not  in  some  way  unpleasantly  connected  with 
that  house,  why  did  he  so  mysteriously  appear  upon  the  scene;  and 
having  arrested  the  inmates,  why  did  he  and  Sergeant  Nash  accept 
bail  bonds  from  Minnie  Lewis  under  an  assumed  name  if  there  was  not 
corruption  on  their  part  and  complicity  with  her?  This  same  captain 
on  trial  before  Commissioner  Ebstein  on  the  21st,  testified  that  according 
to  an  opinion  of  Corporation  Counsel  Rives,  he  had  nothing  else  to  do  but 
accept  the  bonds  when  offered.  But  aside  from  the  assinity  of  the 
Corporation  Counsel's  opinion  (if  he  has  handed  down  such  a  one),  there 
is  the  salient  fact  of  the  woman  giving  two  different  names,  which,  had 
the  captain  and  sergeant  been  disinterested  and  entirely  free  from  any 
imputation  of  blame,  would  have  caused  them  to  have  rejected  bail 
bonds  so  given. 

If  not  expressly,  then  impliedly  but  indubitably  and 
most  convincingly,  it  is  shown  by  the  above  facts  that  the 
Thirty-ninth  street  house  was  one  protected  by  the  cap- 
tain, the  sergeant  and  the  policemen  of  the  West  Thirty- 
seventh  Street  Precinct. 

THE  CONIZIO  CASE. 
On  June  13,  1903,  Salvatorie  Conizio,  who  had  a  fruit  store 
at  No.  34  Spring  street,  sent  his  niece,  Annunciato  Concalva,  upstairs  to 
his  apartments  to  get  a  towel  to  wipe  off  his  fruit.  At  the  moment  she 
started  upstairs,  two  officers,  Richard  and  Wiegold,  appeared  in  the 
store,  and  accused  him  of  selling  one-half  gallon  of  wine  to  this  girl  in 
violation  of  the  Excise  law.  While  the  girl  was  on  her  way  upstairs,  she 
was  followed  by  Richard,  while  Wiegold  remained  in  the  store  with 
Conizio;  but  Wiegold' and  Conizio  followed  them  upstairs  after  a  few 
minutes. 

The  officers  went  in  Conizio's  apartments  and  took  a 
half-gallon  demijohn  of  wine  frcm  under  his  bed.  Beth  of- 
ficers struck  Conizio  and  his  wife  severely  at  that  time. 
They  took  Conizio  to  the  station  house.  The  next  day  he 
was  arraigned  before  Magistrate  Hogan,  but,  upon  being 
tried,  was  dismissed. 

It  may  safely  be  said  that  Wiegold  and  Richard  did  not  institute  this 
proceeding  against  the  Italian  through  pursuit  of  duty;  for  previous  to 
the  day  of  the  arrest  Wiegold,  while  accompanied  by  Richard,  told  this 
manjf  he  would  pay  them  $10  he  might  sell  his  wine  without  fear  of 
the  Excise  law,  and  Conizio  refused  to  make  any  such  payment.  It 
therefore  appears  that  after  having  tried  to  make  him  pay  without  force. 


4S 


NEW   YORK.  1902-1903. 


they  resorted  to  legal  proceedings  for  this  purpose,  expecting  that  he 
would  prefer  this  to  going  to  the  trouble  and  expense  of  defending-  such 
a  case.  They  could  not  have  expected  to  have  had  him  held  on  such 
flimsy  evidence  as  above,  and  it  may  be  safely  said  they  did  not. 

The  officers  had  no  right  to  enter  his  house,  and  were  without  au- 
thority to  search  his  place.  Nor  should  they  have  arrested  him  for 
sending  wine  to  his  apartment  for  family  use,  admitting  he  did  so. 

This  was  a  plain  case  of  "graft." 

A  HANDBOOK  HOLD-UP. 

Robert  E.  Ullner  and  John  E.  Gallegan,  two  officers  stationed  at  Che 
First  Precinct,  appeared  before  Magistrate  Hogan  with  a  man  charged 
with  making  a  handbook  for  a  bet  of  $5;  but  upon  being  tried  the  pris- 
oner was  discharged  for  insufficiency  of  evidence. 

This  was  a  plain  "hold-up"  case.  These  officers  had 
arrested  this  man  expecting  he  would  pay  them  to  release 
him.  They  knew  they  had  no  evidence  against  him.  Ad- 
ditional force  is  given  to  this  statement  when  it  is  re- 
called that  Ullner  is  a  lawyer. 

Furthermore,  it  may  be  stated  in  corroboration  of  the  truth  of  this 
statement  that  these  same  officers  bragged  in  court  that  women  they 
arrested  went  to  jail  or  went  free,  as  they  wished.  In  other  words,  if 
they  were  paid  by  those  they  arrested,  they  did  not  press  the  charge. 

These  same  officers,  Ullner  and  Gallegan,  figured  in  a  disor- 
derly house  case  in  which  they  failed  to  produce  sufficient  evidence  to 
convict  and  which  was  another  case  of  "hold-up."  The  hotel  was  in 
Whitehall  street.  In  this  case  it  appeared  that  Ullner  and  Gallegan 
had  made  up  between  them,  as  they  said,  that  if  an  unfortunate  woman 
solicited  them,  the  one  solicited  was  to  go  to  a  hotel  with  her,  and  if  the 
same  woman  solicited  the  other  officer  he  was  also  to  go  to  a  hotel  with 
her.  Both  officers  testified  in  court  that  they  were  solicited  by  the 
woman  in  the  Whitehall  street  case;  that  they  had  known  her  on  the 
Battery  as  a  prostitute;  that  they  had  gone  to  a  hotel  with  her  on  the 
Bowery  as  a  prostitute  some  time  before;  and  yet  they  went  to  a  hotel 
with  her  in  this  instance  and  registered  as  man  and  wife  to  get  evidence 
against  her.  The  Magistrate  asked  them  in  court  if  it  was  not  a  plain 
case  of  "hold-up;"  and  they  would  not  reply.  Their  silence  In  this  regard 
needs  no  comment. 

But  this  is  not  the  only  instance  in  which  Ullner  figured  to  his  dis- 
advantage. 

He  became  intimate  with  an  unfortunate  woman.  She  had  a  quarrel 
with  another  of  her  kind,  and  wishing  to  be  revenged  had  Ullner  arrest 
her.  After  the  arrest,  and  her  release,  Ullner  wrote  a  letter  to  her  and 
signed  Captain  Schmittberger's  name  to  it.  Upon  receipt  of  it,  she  took 
it  to  the  captain;  but  he  did  nothing  about  it,  did  not  report  it  nor  have 
charges  preferred  against  Ullner,  as  he  should  have  done  had  he  per- 
formed his  duty. 

QUESTIONABLE  ATTITUDE  OF  SUPERIORS. 

But  charges  of  impropriety  and  unconscionable  practice  in  official 
positions  are  not  confined  to  the  subordinate  officers  of  the  department. 
The  conduct  of  those  "higher-up,"  to  be  hereafter  stated  and  com- 
mented upon,  shows  unmistakably  that  the  house  is  not  clean  in  this 
direction  either.  In  making  such  statements  and  comments  those 
"higher-up"  will  not  be  styled  "John  Doe."  The  Democratic  party  in 
making  charges  does  not  deal  in  generalities,  as  do  the  Fusionists,  but 
In  plain  facts  that  can  be  sustained. 

Edward  Hogan,  Judge  of  the  City  Magistrates'  Court,  spoke  to  a 
reporter  of  the  New  York  Sun  on  August  IS,  and  told  him  about  the 
cases  of  the  policemen  heretofore  mentioned,  and  stated  that  the  sys- 
tem of  "graft"  and  "hold-ups"  in  the  Police  Department  was  greater 
than  ever  before.  This  interview  appeared  in  the  Sun  of  that  date. 
Upon  the  same  day  Commissioner  Greene  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Magis- 
trate in  which  he  asked  him  for  the  facts  in  regard  to  the  cases 
mentioned  in  that  Interview  as  it  appeared  in  the  Sun.  The  Judge 
replied  to  this  letter  on  the  14th  and  referred  the  Commissioner  to  the 
ourts  in  which  the  records  of  these  cases  were.  Thereupon  the  Com- 
missioner referred  the  whole  matter  to  his  Third  Deputy  Gherardl 


KLSW    YORK.  1902-1903. 


49 


Davis,  who  instituted  an  investigation  of  the  matter  and  took  a  mass 
of  evidence  about  it.  This  evidence  he  transmitted  with  his  report  to 
the  Commissioner. 

The  Deputy's  method  of  taking  testimony  in  the  mat- 
ter was  most  high-handed..  The  questions  put  to  the  po- 
licemen who  were  before  him  were  so  framed  as  to  fore- 
shadow what  their  answer  should  be.  They  were  beyond 
cavil  leading  ones.  If  his  object  in  doing  this  was  not  to 
whitewash  or  suppress  facts  (which  seems  to  be  a 
"Fusion"  trick),  it  is  difficult  to  understand  what  it  was, 
unless  he  was  guilty  of  complicity  in  the  matter. 

His  conduct  was  especially  represensible  when  it  Is  remem- 
bered that  he  is  himself  a  lawyer  and  presumed  to  know  the 
proper  method  of  bringing  out  facts  upon  examination.  In  his  report  to 
the  Commissioner  he  gives  his  indorsement  to  the  manner  of  getting 
evidence  against  unfortunate  women  by  two  officers  going  to  a  hotel  with 
the  same  woman  on  the  same  night.  This  is  certainly  a  depraved  way  of 
obtaining  evidence;  and  such  policemen  as  pursue  it  cannot  and  ought 
not  to  he  upheld,  and  the  person  upholding  him  takes  a  place  in  the  same 
category  with  him.  Yet  this  same  Deputy  upholds  the  Officers  Ullner 
and  Gallegan  in  just  such  procedure.  It  would  not  seem  unjustifiable, 
therefore,  to  attribute  the  Deputy's  zeal  in  trying  to  clear  these  officers 
of  any  blame  more  to  personal  reasons  than  to  a  wish  to  maintain 
the  integrity  of  the  department  by  withholding  or  whitewashing  the 
facts.  But  either  view  of  the  case  does  not  redound  to  the  Deputy's 
credit.  Nor  is  the  position  of  the  Commissioner  himself  an  enviable 
one;  •for  upon  the  report  of  his  Deputy  be.ing  received  he  wrote  Judge 
Hogan  a  letter  approving  it,  bearing  date  August  18,  1903,  and 
inclosed  a  copy  of  the  report  to  the  Magistrate  in  that  letter  as  well  as 
a  copy  of  the  testimony  taken  by  the  Deputy. 

In  his  letter  to  the  Magistrate  of  the  18th  the  Commissioner  asks  if 
he  is  not  satisfied  from  a  perusal  of  the  report  and  testimony  that  he 
was  mistaken  in  his  charges  and  if  he  will  not  withdraw  them,  saying 
if  he  will  not,  he  will  immediately  place  all  the  officers  accused  on  trial, 
when  they  will  be  convicted  or  acquitted.  The  Magistrate  on  Aug.  25  wrote 
the  Commissioner  a  letter  in  which  he  stated  he  was  not  satisfied  with 
the  investigation  and  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  evidence  taken 
in  the  several  cases  in  point  before  him  as  a  Magistrate  still  stood,  not 
having  been  appealed  from  or  reversed.  The  Commissioner  thereupon 
placed  these  officers  on  trial.  An  examination  of  these  proceedings  will 
show  that  they  are  characterized  by  the  same  zeal  to  uphold  the  officers 
by  hiding  the  facts  as  was  the  previous  investigation  before  the  Deputy. 
While  the  Commissioner  and  his  deputies  evinced  a  desire  that  the 
Magistrate  should  be  present  when  the  examination  was  going  on,  he 
has  at  least  once  started  the  examination  at  an  earlier  date  than  had 
been  expressly  agreed  upon  with  the  Magistrate,  showing  that  there  was 
a  strong  feeling  that  the  interests  of  "Fusion"  in  the  department  could 
be  best  served  by  making  the  investigation  a  family  affair  and  not  one 
in  open  court. 

FUSION  HYPOCRISY  AGAIN. 
In  making  charges  against  the  department  in  the  last  campaign, 
at  which  time  it  was  under  Democratic  control,  the  Fusionists  stated 
tiiat  they  did  so  for  purely  patriotic  considerations  as  well  as  from 
civic  pride  in  seeing  that  it  was  properly  conducted;  and  yet  when  a 
gentleman  of  standing,  but  (from  the  "Fusion"  standpoint)  unfortunately 
a  Democrat,  makes  identical  charges  against  it  when  under  "Fusion" 
control,  except  that  these  charges  are  nearer  to  the  ground  and  deal  in 
facts  and  not  generalities,  it  is  called  a  Democratic  trick.  A  specific 
instance  of  this  is  shown  In  Commissioner  Greene's  letter  of  the  18th  of 
August  to  the  Magistrate,  in  which  he  says:  "I  am  bound  to  assume 
that  your  sole  object  in  this  matter  is  to  punish  members  of  the  police 
force  who  are  guilty  of  blackmail,  'hold-ups'  or  extortion  of  any  other 
form." 

As  further  emphasizing  the  statement  that  all  is  not  as  it  should  be 
"higher-up,"  attention  might  and  should  be  called  to  the  punishment 
meted  out  by  the  Commissioners  and  his  deputies  to  offending  members 


50 


NEW    YORK.    1902— 1903L 


of  the  force.  The  case  of  Captain  Ferris,  who  has  been  heretofore 
referred  to  in  connection  with  the  Sollish  case,  will  illustrate  this.  He 
was  up  on  the  charge  of  permitting  the  house  in  Thirty-ninth  street,  in 
which  the  Sollish  girl  was  found,  to  run  unmolested,  and  upon  other 
charges  of  dereliction  of  duty;  and  upon  being  tried,  although  found 
guilty  of  each  of  the  offenses  charged,  was  fined  but  two  days'  pay. 
This,  to  say  the  least  about  it,  is  certainly  not  conducting  the  affairs 
of  the  department  to  the  best  interests  of  the  community;  and  a  darker 
view  is  necessarily  taken  of  the  circumstances  when  it  Is  considered 
that  in  the  past  officers  similarly  charged  and  found  guilty  have  been 
dismissed  from  the  force. 

As  showing  the  manner  of  man  the  Third  Deputy  Commissioner, 
Gherardi  Davis  is,  an  incident  which  occurred  at  Police  Headquarters 
a  short  time  ago  is  important.  A  sergeant  was  summoned  before  the 
Deputy  and  told  that  he  would  have  him  fined  about  50  days'  pay  and 
suspended  for  some  thirty  days  for  a  small  offense  of  which  the  sergeant 
was  entirely  innocent  and  could  so  prove  himself.  The  sergeant  told 
him  to  go  ahead  and  prefer  charges  as  soon  as  he  wished.  While 
they  were  talking  together  the  sergeant  saw  on  the  lapel  of  Davis* 
coat  a  button  of  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution,  of  which  he  was  himself 
a  member;  and  thereupon  he  took  from  his  vest  the  button  that  he 
wore  and  threw  it  on  the  floor.  Davis  asked  him  what  he  was  doing, 
and  he  told  him.  When  he  told  the  Deputy  that  he,  too,  was  a  member 
of  that  order,  but  in  the  future  would  not  be.  in  view  of  the  Deputy's 
membership,  that  gentleman  became  very  tractable  and  apologetic  It 
is  thus  seen  that  this  deputy  is  actuated  rather  by  social  considerations 
in  disposing  of  cases  than  by  justice.  It  might  be  added  that  Davis 
never  preferred  or  caused  any  charges  to  be  made  against  this  ser- 
geant. 


PRAYER  OF  THE  REPUBLICANS. 

"You  must  save  the  city  far  us," 

Cried-  Republicans  to  Low; 
"Don't  forget  next  year  we'll  need  it, 

Or  poor  Teddy  he'll  eat  crow. 
So  Tom  and  Ben  and  Chauncey,  too. 

United  must  be  now; 
Every  mother's  son  together. 

Join  in  the  great  Pow-Wow. 
Say  you're  Fusion,  Cit,  or  Goo-Goo, 

It  don't  matter  what  you  think; 
But  prevent  the  vote3  from  slipping, 

Or  we  all  will  surely  sink. 
Don't  speak  of  the  post  office. 

Or  the  grafters  in  our  ranks. 
Humbug  is  the  capital 

In  our  bluff  and  promise  banks. 
We  have  Teddy  really  with  us. 

And  he'll  stand  for  all  our  acts; 
Leave  him  to  do  the  shouting, 

And  keep  away  from  stating  facts.** 


\ 


r  Vote  for  Honest  Democratic  Administration  in  touch  with  the 
wants  of  the  people. 


NEW   YORK,  1902-1903. 


CI 


LOW  AND  PERSONAL  LIBERTY. 


Law-Abiding,  Moral  Citizens  Arrayed  Against  Mayor  Low  for 

His  Alliance  with  the  Party  of  Intolerance — Natives 

and  Foreign-Born  Citizens  Agree. 

Mayor  Low  and  his  "Fusion"  administration  have  lost  ground  more 
dh  astrously  in  the  direction  of  what  is  sometimes  known  as  the  German 
vofi  than  in  any  other.  This  fact  is  so  apparent  to  him  and  to  the 
managers  of  the  Boss  Cutting  campaign  that  the  Mayor  has  been 
mo\Vd  to  an  utterance  in  which  he  again  reverses  himself  on  the  im- 
porti  nt  question  of  personal  liberty.  This  question  is  not  interesting 
in  this  campaign  solely  from  the  standpoint  of  the  Germans.  There  are 
large  numbers  of  citizens  foreign  born  or  of  foreign  descent,  but  of 
other  nationalities  than  German  who  are  thoroughly  imbued  by  tradi- 
tion with  the  spirit  of  personal  liberty  which  the  Germans  are  so  de- 
voted to. 

They  do  not  recognize  the  right  of  a  narrow,  illiberal 
and  intolerant  Republican  majority  in  the  interior  of  the 
State  to  impose  the  limitations  necessary  in  those  com- 
munities upon  the  cosmopolitan  people  of  this  great  city. 

They  resent  the  open  alliance  which  Mayor  Low  has  made  with  the 
representatives  of  that  intolerant  spirit,  and  the  fact  that  he  allowed 
Governor  Odell,  the  head  of  the  Republican  State  machine,  to  dictate 
the  apointiiient  of  Police  Commissioner  Greene,  for  the  apparent  purpose 
of  harrying  them  and  carrying  out  certain  political  schemes. 

"SUNDAY  BEER." 
They  al^o  very  bitterly  resent  the  attitude  of  <he  "Fusion"  press  and 
the  "Fusion"  orators  in  holding  up  to  derision  these  views  that  they 
hold.  Instead  of  receiving  the  credit  that  belongs  to  them  as  thinking, 
law-abiding,  substantial  citizens,  with  their  own  views  of  rig|^and 
wrong,  under  which  they  certainly  have  a  very  high  standard  or  mo- 
rality, they  are  constantly  pictured  as  an  almost  irresponsible  body 
swayed  and  controlled  by  no  higher  consideration  than  the  prospect  of 
securing  or  losing  their  "Sunday  beer." 

Mayor  Low  has  recently  been  aroused  to  the  dangers  of  the  situation 
from  a  political  standpoint;  hence  the  reversal  alluded  to.  Chairman 
Henry  Weisman,  of  the  German-American  Municipal  League  of  Brook- 
lyn, is  the  reporter  who  gave  publicity  to  the  language  of  the  Mayor  s 
latest  flop  on  the  subject.    Here  are  the  words: 

"It  is  impossible  to  carry  out  reforms  that  make  the 
record  complete  in  a  two-year  term.    This  is  particularly 
true  of  the  excise  question.    The  great  mission  of  General 
Greene  was  to  abolish  blackmail  in  the  Police  Depart- 
ment.   In  order  to  accomplish  this  result  he  had  to  infcrce 
the  law.    When  his  mission  is  completed  it  will  be  possi- 
ble to  permit  a  liberal  construction  of  the  excise  law." 
THE  MAYOR'S  PALTERING  POSITION. 
Though  this  is  a  very  guarded  statement,  it  is  sufficiently  liberal  to 
displease  the  other  element  of  the  "Fusion"  party,  which  Mayor  Low 
caters  to  when  he  supports  Commissioner  Greene's  raids  and  oppres- 
sions.   It  is.  however,  hardly  strong  enough  to  make  much  impression 
upon  the  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  already  alluded  to.    The  great  mass 
of  the  Germans  and  other  foreigners,  together  with  the  liberal-minded 
people  of  native  birth,  recall  Mayor  Low's  utterances  in  the  campaign 
of  two  years  ago.    He  thoroughly  committed  himself  then  to  the  doc- 
trine that  "the  extreme  of  the  law  is  tH<*  extreme  of  injustice,"  and 


OPPRESSION  AND  PLUNDER. 


kizw  york.  1002-1003. 


53 


said  In  ro  many  words  that  the  Fusion  administration,  if  he  was  elected, 
would  not  mean  a- blue-law  administration.  The  disapointmeut  in  th«^ 
results  which  followed  this  quite  definite  statement  was  very  great.  It 
is  not  to  be  expected  that  any  better  results  or  greater  satisfaction  will 
follow  the  cautious^  campaign  declaration  now  made  by  Mayor  Low, 
that  some  time  "it  will  be  possible  to  permit  a  liberal  construction  of 
the  excise  law."' 

The  Mr.  Weisman  who  retailed  this  report  of  the  Mayor's  position  is 
alleged  to  have  informed  the  Mayor  that  the  declaration  would  be  suf- 
ficient and  satisfactory  as  he  reported  it.  In  this  he  is  entirely  at  vari- 
ance with  Mr.  Otto  Streitz,  chairman  of  the  German-American  League 
Campaign  Committee,  who  said: 

"The  sentiment  of  the  German  people  is  entirely 
against  Mayor  Low. 
I  wonder  where  Mr.  Weisman  got  the  information  that  it  would  be 
otherwise?  He  certainly  didn't  get  it  in  the  Third  District  (Brooklyn). 
We  went  among  the  people  in  that  district  and  they  didn't  know  him; 
yet  that  is  his  own  district.  Take  a  vote  in  any  society  in  South 
Brooklyn  or  in  Williamsburg,  and  I  will  guarantee  that  it  will  be 
against  Low." 

President  Tokaji  supplemented  this  by  saying: 

"Mr.  Weisman  pretends  to  be  a  leader  of  the  German-Americans  in 
Brooklyn.  How  in  the  world  can  be  be  such  a  leader  when  bis  organiza- 
tion is  purely  and  simply  a  Republican  organization?  That  is  al!  it  is. 
Our  organization  is  composed  of  independent  Democrats  and  independent 
Republicans.    We  will  not  stand  for  Low." 

THE  PEOPLE'S  POSITION  DEFINED. 
Another  prominent  German  expresses  the  opinion  that  Mr.  Weisman 
would  have  his  hands  full  in  the  endeavor  to  keep  even  his  assoeiation 
of  Republican  Germans  in  hand.  He  adds  that  under  no  circumstances 
should  the  Germans  as  a  body  support  u  party  which  does  not  *listen 
to  the  just  demands  of  liberal-minded  citizens. 

The  Germans  are  asking  for  no  special  privileges,  but 
they  are  of  the  same  opinion  as  other  liberal-minded  men, 
namely,  that  the  Sunday  laws  made  by  the  up-State  legis- 
lators should  not  be  applied  in  the  same  spirit  to  the  in- 
habitants of  a  cosmopolitan  city  like  New  York  as  to  the 
farmers  in  a  small  village  in  the  country. 
This  important  feature  of  the  campaign  is  receiving  the  serious  at- 
tention of  the  New  York  Herald,  in  which,  on  September  21,  1903,  the 
following  information  was  printed: 

The  Herald  has  accurately  portrayed  the  feeling  prevail- 
ing to-day  among  the  voters  of  German  birth  and  descent 
who  have,  so  many  times,  swung  this  city  from  Tammany 
to  reform  and  back  again.  With  a  view  to  arriving  at  an  in- 
telligent idea  of  how  the  voters  of  the  city,  of  German  birth 
or  descent,  will  vote  at  the  approaching  municipal  election, 
the  Herald  has  had  careful  and  systematic  inquiries  made  by  <• 
a  German  journalist  of  experience,  who  was  under  instruc- 
tions to  give  the  result  without  bias.  He  has  done  so  in  the 
following  article.  It  shows,  briefly,  that  Mayor  Low,  to  win, 
must  recover  an  apparent  indicated  loss  of  25  per  cent,  of  the 
German  vote,  which  is  placed  at  125,000  in  the  entire  city, 
or  make  it  up  in  some  other  way.  He  had  75  per  cent,  of  this 
vote  in  1901.  He  will  probably  get  only  50  per  cent,  of  it  now. 
The  percentage  lost  is  31,250,  or  just  about  what  his  majority 
was  when  he  beat  Edward  M.  Shepard.  The  conclusions  of 
the  Herald  investigator  follow: 

Two  years  ago  the  German  vote,  so  called,  which  again  is 
classed  as  a  deciding  factor  in  the  coming  municipal  cam- 
paign, aided  materially  in  the  success  of  the  Fusion  ticket. 
Fully  75  per  cent,  of  the  125. COO  German  voters  cast  their  votes 
for  Mr.  Low  and  his  associates.  It  will  require  considerable 
effort  this  year,  as  matters  stand  on  the  eve  of  the  campaign, 
to  obtain  for  the  same  candidate  50  per  cent. — that"  is,  to  split 
the  German  vote. 


NEW   YORK.  t90S»~lft03. 


They  talk  about  personal  liberty  and  claim  that  Mr. 
Low  has  broken  his  ante-election  promise  to  interpret 
liberally  the  Sunday  laws.  They  also  call  him  an  aristo- 
crat, surrounded  by  men  who  do  not  understand  the  cos- 
mopolitan character  of  New  York's  population. 

They  find  fault  with  him  for  not  having  given  the  Ger- 
mans representation  in  the  administration,  and  say  he  has  not 
found  it  necessary  to  acquaint  himself  \vith  their  wants  and 
requests.  They  say  that  they  have  never  been  able  to  gain 
his  ear  when  they  had  grievances  to  present.  Some,  also,  are 
inclined  to  hold  the  Fusion  administration  responsible  for  the 
fancied  curtailing  of  the  teaching  of  the  German  language 
in  the  public  schools,  but  the  paramount  question  with  them 
is  the  interference  with  what  they  call  personal  liberty,  eager- 
ly separating  that  from  the  beer  question.  The  latter  is  one 
which  only  interests  the  liquor  element;  the  former  concerns 
all  who  belong  to  societies — and  what  German  does  not?— and 
who  are  in  the  habit  of  holding  their  entertainments  on  Sun- 
day. 

Careful  estimates,  based  on  statistics,  place  this  vote  as 
one-fifth  of  the  entire  voting  population.  This  estimate  does 
not  include  American-born  citizens  who  affiliate  with  German 
societies  and  who  still  speak  the  language  of  their  parents. 
It  does,  however,  include  the  Swiss,  the  Austrians  from  the 
German  provinces  and  those  Russians  who  come  from  the  Ger- 
man provinces  of  the  Tsar.  The  German  districts  in  Manhat- 
tan and  the  Bronx  are  all  on  the  east  side  along  the  elevated 
roads;  in  Brooklyn  they  are  in  Williamsburg;  East  New 
York,  Bushwick;  in  Queens  they  are  in  College  Point,  As- 
toria, Steinway,  Flushing,  Glendale,  Maspeth,  Middle  Village, 
Ridgewood,  while  in  Richmond  they  are  scattered.  It  is  in 
these  districts,  normally  democratic  with  a  few  exceptions 
that  the  defection  is  noticeable. 

It  is  the  storekeeper,  the  tradesman,  the  mechanic  and 
the  laborer 

As  against  the  business  man  "down  town,"  who  indorses 
the  Low  administration  and  wants  no  other. 

One  of  Brooklyn's  business  men,  who  is  to-day  Tor  Low's 
re-election,  caused  to  be  made  a  canvass  among  his  German 
friends  and  neighbors  prior  to  the  conference  of  the  Fusion 
elements  which  settled  on  Low  as  the  candidate.  He  told  the 
Herald  representative  that  the  best  they  could  hope  for  in 
Brooklyn,  provided  an  able  campaign  be  made,  is  one-half  of 
the  German  vote,  which  means  a  defection  of  25  per  cent,  in 
that  borough  alone,  and  that  borough  contributed  more  than 
20.000  of  the  30,000  majority  which  made  Seth  Low,  Mayor. 

"It  is  the  old  story,"  he  said.    "The  Germans  have  got 
*  it  in  their  heads  that  their  personal  liberty  is  threatened, 
that  respectable  societies  and  respectable  saloon  keepers 
are  treated  worse  than  those  whose  dives  are  the  source 
of  crime." 

To  understand  this  feeling,  one  has  to  go  back  to  the  be- 
ginning of  the  present  year,  when  several  society  entertain- 
ments were  interfered  with.  The  indignation  at  that  time  ran 
high,  and  the  attitude  of  the  administration  was  condemned 
in  strong  terms. 

SOME  SPECIFIED  CASES. 

On  January  5,  the  Union  Helvetia  had  arranged  a  ball  for 
the  benefit  of  its  ill  members,  in  Lyric  Hall.  In  the  evening, 
when  500  persons  were  assembled.  Captain  Miles  O'Reilly  for- 
bade the  entertainment,  and  a  protest  meeting  was  held. 

On  March  8,  1903,  the  New  York  Turn  Verein  gave  an  en- 
tertainment in  its  club-house.  Eighty-fifth  street  and  Lexing- 
ton avenue,'  when  suddenly  Captain  Hogan,  af  the  East 
Eighty-eighth  street  station,  appeared  and  ordered  it  stopped. 


NEW   YORK,  J002--1!K)3. 


55 


There  were  a  thousand  people,  women  and  children,  In  the 
hall. 

A  Sunday  entertainment  at  the  Irving  Place  Theatre  was 
interfered  with;  another  orre  on  March  15  at  Terrace  Garden, 
where  a  singing  society  gave  an  entertainment,  and  at  a  simi- 
lar affair  of  the  Harlem  Society. 

Just  about  the  same  time,  the  Germans  became  agitated 
over  the  changes  which  were  planned  in  the  course  of  studies 
in  the  schools.  They  assert  that  they  had  definite  promises 
and  that  these  were  broken.  They  appealed  to  Major  Low. 
On  behalf  of  the  United  German  societies,  which  comprise  150 
clubs,  lodges,  singing  and  turn  vereins,  with  a  membership 
of  30,000,  Dr.  H.  A.  C.  Anderson,  the  president,  presented  a 
memorial  to  the  Mayor,  who  promised  to  consider  the  ques- 
tion, but  has  given  no  intimation  up  to  the  present  that  he 
has  done  so. 

Dr.  Anderson,  who  is  also  at  the  head  of  the  Central  Turn 
Verein,  one  of  the  most  influential  social  clubs  of  Germans, 
talked  freely  at  his  home,  No.  11S  East  Eighty-sixth  street. 
He  said: 

"I  come  daily  in  contact  with  all  kinds  of  Germans,  and  I 
find  that  the  slight  attention  which  Mr.  Dow  gave  to  one 
question  of  interest  to  the  Germans,  will  cost  him  many  votes. 
I  do  not  believe  that  the  opposition  to  the-present  adminis- 
tration emanates  from  any  political  causes." 


THE  LAY  OF  WOODBURY. 

One  Major  Woodbury — John  McGaw, 
He's  Street  Commissioner  by  law, 
Has  done  some  very  remarkable  things, 
With  his  brigade  of  pure  white  wings. 

i7«r  Viasts  of  his  efficiency, 
Whit-?  all  the  people  fail  to  see; 
They  note  the  filthy  streets  and  say: 
"Why  6\>n*t  you  clear  the  dirt  away?" 

He  want-d  a  stable  for  his  gee-gees, 
And  "Fusion"  agreed  the  Major  to  please, 
it's  a  French  chateau  with  an  asphalt  floor, 
And  cost  half  a  million  or  more. 


Vote  for  Honest  Democratic  City  Government  in  touch  with  the 
Wants  of  the  people. 


5G 


NEW  YORK, 


Low  Stands  bv  Lindenthal. 


When  danger  threatened  human  Hte, 

Though  Mayor  Low  had  said, 
He'd  banish  death  traps  at  the  Bridge, 

And  murder  in  its  shed, 

He  stood  by  Lindenthal. 

As  the  days  and  weeks  and  months  rolled  by, 

No  effort  once  was  made. 
By  Low  to  end  the  agony, 

He  merely  smirked  and  said, 
"I'll  stand  by  Lindenthal." 

Two  years  have  come  and  gone  since  then, 

And  death  and  terror  cling; 
Seth  Low  cares  not  what  suffering 

His  fads  and  follies  bring; 

He  stands  by  Lindenthal. 

For  aid  given  at  election  time 

The  railroads  named  their  man 

To  make  all  plans  of  bridges. 
Which  o'er  our  rivers  span; 

And  they  chose  Lindenthal. 


Honest  Democracy,  purged  of  Deveryism,  welcomes  the  return  of 
fcer  worthy  son*  ^  »  ..  - 


68  NEW   YORK,  1W&-:003. 


THE  "FUSION"  BRIDGE  COMMISSIONER. 


"Eye  Bar"  and  Loop  the  Loop  Lindenthal — The  Funny  Way 
a  Funny  Man  Treats  a  Serious  Problem. 

Gust  a  v  Lindenthal,  Bridge  Commissioner,  furnishes  a  striking  ex- 
ample of  Mayor  Low's  persistency  in  backing  his  appointees  in  the  face 
of  popular  disappointment  and  disapproval. 

"Lye  Bar''  Lindenthal  is  the  title  by  which  the  Bridge  Commissioner 
is  popularly  known  and  his  motto  is  "I  Bar  anything  that  I  dirt  not  de- 
sign or  which  my  friends  and  former  associates  cannot  build  and  make 
rnoney  out  of."  It  does  not  matter  to  the  "Eye  Bar"  Commissioner  that 
new  bridges  are  delayed  for  years  and  the  congested  conditions  of  the 
old  one  continue  indefinitely,  a  menace  to  the  public  safety  and  an  out- 
rage on  decency. 

"Eye  Bar"  Lindenthal  has  distinguished  his  administration  by 
subordinating  all  the  engineering'  and  technical  ability  of  the  depart- 
ment to  its  "Eye  Bar"  head.  Samuel  It.  Probasco,  Chief  Engineer  at 
$10,000  a  year,  was  made  an  assistant  at  $5,000.  C.  C.  Martin,  Chief 
Engineer  in  charge  of  the  Brooklyn  Bridge,  at  >8,000,  was  made  Con- 
sulting Engineer  at  ?6,0C0.  It.  S.  Buck,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Manhat- 
tan Bridge,  resigned  rather  than  become  a  party  to  "Eye  Bar"  Linden- 
thal's  plan  to  waste  time  and  money  in  its  "construction.  Leffert  L. 
Buck,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Williamsburg  Bridge,  at  $i0,C0D  a  year, 
was  made  Consulting. Engineer  at  $7,500.  Q.  F.  Nichols,  Assistant  En- 
gineer on  this  work,  was  reduced  from  $7,500  to  $6,000,  ard  afterward 
dismissed  because  he#  dared  to  appear  at  the  Aldermanic  Committee 
hearing  in  opposition  'to  "Eye  Bar"  Ldndenthal's  plans. 

These  changes  were  dictated  solefly  by  the  desire  to  centralize'  all 
engineering  authority  in  the  autocratic  "Eye  Bar."  The  sufferers  were 
not  Tammany  men.  That  would  excuse  any  outrage  upon  them  in  the 
eyes  of  "Fusion"  politicians.  But  this  explanation  will  not  fit  the  cases 
of  appointees  of  former  Brodtelyn  administrations  or  that  of  L.  L.  Buck, 
who  was  appointed  by  the  Commissioners  of  Mayor  Strong  and  Mayor 
Schieren.  Nor  was  the  usual  "Fusion"  pretence  of  economy  resorted  to 
as  explaining  the  changes.  Even  "Eye  Bar's"  assurance  was  not  equal 
to  making  such  a  claim  in  view  of  the  fact  that  he  was  at  the  same 
time  greatly  increasing  expenses  by 

disbursing  some  $G3T000  to  frier.ds  and  favorites  for  the 
Hornbostel  plans  to  beautify  the  bridge  architecturally. 
\       In  these  expenditures  for  plans  he  also  violated  the  law 
;      on  the  lines  followed  by  Fire  Commissioner  Sturgis,  in 
/       neglecting  to  advertise  for  competitive  bids. 

INGENIOUS  INCOMPETENCY. 

Mayor  Low's  Bridge  Commissioner's  sellouts  business  in  these  direc- 
tions was  interspersed  with  a  comedy  element.  In  fact  that  element  was 
the  most  conspicuous  at  the  time.  Now  we  wonder  whether  the  antics 
which  then  seemed  only  fatuous  folly  were  not  well  studied  efforts  to 
distract  attention  from  the  Commissioner's  real  purpose  of  taking  good 
care  of  "Eye  BaT"  and  his  fuVorltes.  At  any  rate  these  antics  resulted 
in  much  merry  making  and  in  that  way,  and  that  way  only,  they  were 
some  relief  to  the  distressed  public  cuflering  from  the  conditions  at  the 
Brooklyn  Bridge. 

The  Commissioner's  facility  in  ievising  what  he  called  relief  plans 
made  him  known  at  this  juncture  as  "A  Plan  a  Day  Lindenthal." 
Though  epigrammatic,  this  Aid  him  scant  justice,  as  on  some  days  he 
•volved  two  or  three  plans,   it  is  but  Just  to  add  that  two  of  the  Linden- 


NEtf*   YORK.  10015-1003. 


(9 


thai  plans  had  actual  merit,  it'  carried  out,  either  of  them  would  have 
effectually  relieved  the  Bridge  crush. 

One  of  the  excellent  plans  he  proposed  was  to  have 

about  half  of  the  regular  users  of  the  Bridge  take  to  the 

ferries  instead. 

Unfortunately,  the  hundred  thousand  or  so  of  people  for  whose 
benefit  this  suggestion  was  evolved,  continued  to  consult  their  own 
convenience  and  did  not  seize  the  opportunity  to  help  the  fussy  Fusion 
Commissioner  out  of  his  troubles.  The  other  equally  meritorious  plan 
was  to  have  the  working  people,  the  clerks  and  the  business  men,  all 
take  more  heed  as  to  the  time  of  their  comings  and  goings,  and  not 
all  try  to  cross  the  Bridge  at  the  same  hour.  Somehow,  nothing  came 
of  this  suggestion,  though  it  is  undeniable  that  only  good  results  would 
have  followed  if  it  was  carried  out. 

Multiplied  loops,  moving  platforms,  fourteen  million  dollar  terminal 
changes,  and  even  flying  machines,  were  among  the  devices  credited  to 
the  ingenious  Lindenthal  to  relieve  the  terrible  conditions  suffered  at 
the  Park  Row  end  of  the  Bridge,  but  the  fact  remains,  that  after  more 
than  eighteen  months  in  office  the  "Reform"  Commissioner,  instead  of 
being  able  to  show  any  improvement  in  his  department,  has  to  try 
to  explain  and  excuse  constantly  increasing  evils  and  difficulties. 

And  Mayor  Low  stands  for  him  and  stands  by  him 
both  in  his  exhibitions  of  incapacity  and  in  his  indications 
of  what  are  worse,  purposes  to  make  the  new  Manhattan 
Bridge  cost  three  to  five  mil'icn  dollars  more  than  it  ought 
to,  to  take  three  years  longer  to  build  than  it  should  take 
and  tc  be  only  about  half  as  strong  and  safe  as  it  could  be. 
Even  Mayor  Low's  all-pervading  charity  for  his  blundering  officials 
will  hardly  be  able  to  ascribe  a  good  motive  for  such  a  course  in  such  a 
cause.    It  is  doubly  suspicious  when  considered  with  "Eye  Bar"  Linden- 
thal's  past  relations  with  the  P.  R.  R.  and  the  American  Bridge  Com- 
pany. 

A  "FUSION"  CAMPAIGN  OUTRAGE. 
It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  in  the  "Fusion"  campaign  two  years 
ago,  for  political  effect,  an  attack  was  made  upon  the  Bridge  manage- 
ment which  spread  an  unfounded  and  unwarranted  feeling  of  doubt  as 
to  the  safety  of  the  structure,  with  the  result  of  causing  needless  worry 
and  distress  to  thousands  of  men,  women  and  children  for  many  weeks. 
No  more  dastardly  piece  of  dirty  politics  was  ever  resorted  to.  even  in 
the  name  of  "Reform."  Of  course  there  was  no  doubt  then  of  the 
strength  of  the  Bridge  as  there  is  no  doubt  to-day,  and  nothing  has 
been  done  to  it  in  the  meantime  that  was  not  always  done. 

LINDENTHAL  RIDICULED  BY  "FUSION"  PRESS. 
To  show  that  there  is  no  suspicion  of  partisan  prejudice  in  these 
statements  and  in  the  assertion  that  there  are  more  than  signs  of 
"graft"  in  "Eye  Bar"  Lindenthal's  obvious  efforts  to  favor  the  com- 
pany he  formerly  worked  for,  the  following  extracts  from  good  Repub- 
lican-Fusion sources  are  convincing: 
NEW  YORK  TRIBUNE,  May  21,  1902: 

"It  really  does  seem  to  be  about  time  for  Mr.  Lindenthal 
to  stop  this  bewildering  output  of  new  schemes  for  Bridge 
relief.  We  would  hesitate  to  say  how  many  new  plans  have 
been  officially  broached  since  the  beginning  of  the  year,  but 
certainly  their  name  is  legion.  There  have  been  few  days 
without  one  and  there  have  been  some  days  with  each  more 
than  one.  Some  of  them  have  been  fantastic.  In  such  a 
multiplicity  of  schemes,  and  paucity  of  relief  the  public  has 
been  partly  amused,  partly  bewildered  and,  we  are  afraid, 
chiefly  disgusted." 
NEW  YORK  TIMES.  February  9,  1902: 

"If  Bridge  Commissioner  Lindenthal  is  correctly  quoted  as 
saying  that  with  the  rejection  of  his  plan  of  relieving  the 
Bridge  by  a  system  of  transfers  he  is  "through"  and  that  for 
the  next  twenty  months  or  so  the  disgraceful  scenes  at  the 
New  York  terminal  must  be  submitted  to,  be  cannot  better 


C) 


NEW   YORK.  1902—1903. 


employ  his  time  than  in  reconsidering  his  conclusion  and 
weighing  his  official  duty  against  his  professional  preference." 
NEW  YORK  TIMES,  March  3,  1902: 

"Mr.  Lindenthal's  latest  plan  of  shaping  his  official  opinion 
by  taking  a  popular  vote  designed  to  show  what  the  people 
who  use  the  Bridge  want  done  was  doubtless  not  intended  as 
a  contribution  to  the  gayety  of  nations.  But  though  it  may 
make  the  unskillful  laugh,  it  cannot  but  make  the  judicious 
grieve." 

NEW  YORK  TIMES.  March  3,  1903: 

"We  are  sorry  to  say  that  the  plan  of  Bridge  relief  to 
which  Commissioner  Lindenthal  committed  himself  in  his 
communication  to  the  public  on  Monday  will  be  a  disappoint- 
ment to  most  of  those  who  take  the  trouble  to  examine  it 
critically." 

HELPLESS  LINDENTHAL. 
NEW  YORK  TIMES,  June  15.  1903: 

"Commissioner  Lindenthal  has  no  ground  for  complaint 
if  his  apparent  indifference  to  the  conditions  which  have  so 
long  existed  at  the  New  York  terminal  of  the  Brooklyn  Bridge 
have  created  the  popular  impression  that  he  is  unequal  to 
the  responsibilities  of  his  position.  As  a  correspondent  of  the 
Times  says  veTy  forcibly:  'The  people  have  a  right  to  look 
to  some  one— and  if  not  the  Bridge  Commissioner,  whom?— 
to  do  the  aggressive  work  necessary  for  immediate  relief  in 
the  reachable  evils.  To  any  one  who  saw  the  outrageous 
conditions  on  Saturday,  mob  law  seemed  the  logical  outcome. 
Orderly  mobs  of  the  same  sort  may  yet  be  running  trains  and 
operating  switches  if  a  stronger  hand  than  the  present 
one  does  not  quickly  evolve  plans  for  relieving  the  situation." 
The  Brooklyn  Times,  a  Republican-Fusion  organ,  asked  the  "Eye 
Bar"  Commissioner  these  questions  July  13,  1903.  and  still  awaits  a  reply: 
"Why  were  the  original  plans  cast  aside,  causing  expense 
and  delay? 

"Why  did  Commissioner  Lindenthal  practically  stop  the 
wrork  after  one  of  the  tower  foundation  contracts  had  been  let? 

"Why  were  eye  bar  cables  substituted  for  wire  cables 
when  prominent  engineers  declare  that  they  will  increase  the 
cost  of  the  bridge  and  may  only  be  manufactured  by  one 
company? 

"Why  were  two  engineers  in  the  employ  of  a  prospective 
bidder  permitted  to  have  a  hand  in  drawing  the  steel  specifica- 
tions? 

"Why  was  an  officer  of  a  company,  which  may  bid  on  the 
contract,  appointed  on  the  Commission  which  made  a  favor- 
able report  on  the  plans  to  the  Mayor? 

"Why  was  an  architect  appointed,  without  public  com- 
petition, and  given  every  opportunity  to  make  more  than 
$25,000  on  this  bridge  alone? 

"Why  should  the  public  accept  the  word  of  Gustav  Lin- 
denthal in  defiance  of  the  judgment  of  engineers  of  stand- 
ing?" 

William  Hildenbrand,  an  acknowledged  engineering  authority,  made 
an  enlightening  communication  to  Mayor  Low  on  the  subject,  which 
was,  of  course,  ignored  by  that  complacently  self-sufficient  official  who 
thenceforth  proceeded  to  back  up  Lindenthal  and  to  fight  with  him 
against  the  Aldermen  of  both  parties  who  had  looked  upon  the  question 
Intelligently. 

In  this  communication,  Mr.  Hildenbrand  says: 

"Plans  for  the  Manhattan  Bridge  were  first  started  by  the 
Van  Wyck  administration  in  1899.  When  completed  by  the 
then  Chief  Engineer  R.  S.  Buck  they  were  approved  by  Bridge 
( 'ommissloner  Shea,  passed  by  the  Board  of  Apportionment 
and  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  an  appropriation  made  for  the 
foundations  and  work  begun  on  the  foundation  on  the  Brook- 
lyn side  of  the  East  River. 


NEW   YORK,  1902-1903. 


n 


"Had  the  work  been  permitted  to  continue  when  Bridge 
Commissioner  Linden  thai  took  office  both  foundations  would  be 
completed,  both  towers  would  be  neaiing  completion  and  , 
cable  making  would  begin  in  the  Fall.  Allowing  after  that  as 
much  time  as  at  the  Williamsburg  Bridge,  the  Manhattan 
Bridge  would  surely  have  been  open  for  traffiic  at~the  close 
of  1905." 

Concerning  the  stoppage  of  the  work  and  the  substitution  of  the 
plans  for  eye  bar  cables,  with  the  accompanying  delay  of  years  and 
-  additional  cost  of  millions,  Mr.  Hildenbrand  says: 

'•Having  stopped  the  bridge  work  the  new  Commis- 
sioner began  to  work  for  Mr.  Lindenthal's  future.  That 
gentleman  took  out,  some  years  ago,  a  patent  on  a  chain 
for  suspending  bridges  composed  of  wire  links,  that  is, 
eye  bats  bound  with  wire.  So  a  wire-link  bridge  this 
bridge  must  be." 

With  what  virtuous  horror  Mayor  Low  and  the  other  Pharisees  of 
Fusion  would  cry  out  against  such  conduct  in  office  if  resorted  to  by  any- 
one outside  of  their  self-righteous  circle. 


Democracy  is  the  hope  of  the  people  and  the  only  agency  of  real 
reform. 


FUSION'S"  HEALTH  DEPARTMENT. 


Dr.  Lederle  Extolled  on  False  Premises — The  Favor  of  Provi- 
dence Charged  to  Officials — Death  Rate  Fakes — Men- 
dacity and  Misrepresentation — Dr.  Parkhurst  Pushes 
Along  a  Lie  Multiplied  by  One  Hundred. 

Ernst  J.  Lederle,  Ph.  D.,  the  "Fusion"  Commissioner  of  the  De- 
partment of  Health,  was  a  subordinate  in  that  department  when  Mayor 
Low  appointed  him  to  be  its  executive  head.  His  record  was  not  one 
of  conspicuous  efficiency  and  he  had  several  times  narrowly  escaped 
dismissal  for  neglect  of  the  duties  of  his  position.  As  Commissioner, 
however,  he  has  come  into  the  heritage  of  fulsome  praise  that  the 
Citizens'  Union  accords  to  all  officials  of  the  "Fusion"  stripe.  On  his 
behalf  the  policy  of  claiming  credit  for  everything  that  can  be  im- 
agined has  been  worked  to  its  fullest  extent.  Indeed,  it  has  been  more 
overworked  than  is  usual,  even  in  that  mendacious  policy. 

Commissioner  Lederle  has,  however,  been  lauded  with  more  zeal 
th#  n  discretion.  In  claiming  credit  for  him,  based  upon  the  results  of 
cor.  iitions  of  weather  and  other  causes  due  to  no  mortal  efforts,  his  too 
partial  commendation  discounts  belief  in  anything  else  that  is  urged  in 
his  favor.  The  most  noteworthy  instance  in  connection  with  this  extrav- 
agant praise  i3  found  in  the  assertion  that  his  administration  caused 
a  marked  reduction  in  the  city's  death  rate. 

Unfortunately  for  this  contention,  though,  the  facts  of 
record  show  that  the  lessened  mortality  is  directly  trace- 
able to  natural  causes. 

The  effrontery  of  trying  to  twist  statistics  and  facts  into  the 
semblance  of  support  to  such  a  preposterous  conclusion  and  to  partisan 
politiral  advantage  is  distinctly  an  attribute  of  "Fusion"  and  "Reform." 

The  records  disclose  the  real  situation  so  plainly  that  one  wonders 
at  the  assurance  of  those  who  attempt  to  misrepresent  them  in  the 
cause  of  "Fusion"  politics. 

tOW  THE  DEATH  RATE  WAS  REDUCED. 

Bearing  or.  tJM  death  rate,  the  following  are  the  chief  factors  to  be 
consider  ecu 


C2 


NEW   YORK,  1902-1003. 


20.00 

18.75 

24,943 

22,757 

4,949 

3.781 

1.273 

36 

856 

157 

1,231 

969 

701 

770 

1901.  1902 

Estimated  population  3,536,517  3,632,501 

Death  rate  

Deaths  in  June,  July,  August  and  Sep- 
tember   

Deaths  of  children  under  two  years  in 
June,  July,  August  and  September. 
Deaths  from  sunstroke  in  June,  July, 

August  and  September  

Deaths  from  influenza  

Deaths  from  old  age  

Suicides   

The  reports  of  the  Register  of  Records  (annual  report 
of  the  Board  of  Health,  1901,  pp.  58  and  59),  says  "that 
1872,  1892,  1896  and  1901  were  the  hottest  and  deadliest 
Summers  in  the  experience  of  the  department,"  and  that 
'•upon  a  single  day.  July  2,  1901,  553  deaths  occurred,  this 
number  being  far  and  above  any  Drevious  record,  and 
looking  at  the  temperature  upon  that  and  '*ie  previous  day. 
we  find  that  it  reached  100  degrees  upon  both.  The  ther- 
mometer registered  90  degrees  or  above  for  eight  days 
(upon  two  days  reaching  the  100  degree  mark),  the 
humidity  and  night  temperature  being  about  as  high  as  in 
1896." 

Of  influenza,  in  another  period  of  the  year,  this  official 
report  says,  page  9:  '"The  influenza  which  showed  signs  of 
increasing  malignity  during  the  latter  part  of  1900.  con- 
tinued to  increase  during  the  early  part  of  1901.  causing 
altogether  856  deaths  during  the  year." 

The  favorable  showing  of  mortality  for  the  year  1902  is  therefore 
seen  to  be  directly  due-  to  the  absence  of  the  deadly  conditions  of 
•weather  suffered  in  1901.  The  decreases  in  the  total  of  deaths  are 
nearly  all  to  be  found  in  the  above  list  of  diseases  and  are  incontestably 
due  to  causes  which  have  absolutely  no  relation  to  the  sanitary  work  of 
the  Health  Department.  The  friends  of  "Fusion"  have  no  more  right 
to  claim  for  it  the  differences  in  the  prevalence  of  the  diseases  noted 
than  its  enemies  and  critics  have  to  charge  it  with  being  the  cause 
of  the  increase  in  the  number  of  suicides  in  the  same  period. 

That  the  absurdity  of  these  claims  for  credit  is  publicly  appreciated 
Is  shown  by  the  published  letters  in  several  newspapers  from  impartial 
citizen  observers.  One  of  these  printed  in  the  Sun  of  May  26,  1903, 
presents  the  case  very  cogently  and  comprehensively  as  follows: 

"Dr.  Parkhurst  and  the  Citizens'  Union  evidently  overlook 
the  fact  that  the  Summer  of  1902  was  the  coolest  we  nave  had 
in  thirty  years,  and  as  a  result  the  deatlf  rate  among  children 
under  five  years  was  the  lowest  in  nineteen  years. 

"I  have  looked  over  the  records  in  Boston  and  Chicago, 
and  oven  a  greater  decrease  is  shown  in  those  cities  as  a 
result  of  the  abnormally  cool  Summer  of  last  year.  Will  Dr. 
Parkhurst  and  the  Citizens'  Union  ascribe  the  low  death  rate 
in  Boston  and  Chicago  in  the  year  1902  to  the  Low  administra- 
tion, or  will  they  give  any  thanks  to  the  Almighty  for  the 
lovely  weather  of  last  Summer?" 

LEDERLE  FRIENDLY  TO  THE  BEEF  TRUST. 
Mayor  Low's  Health  Commissioner  was  severely  criti- 
cised for  his  attitude  on  the  subject  of  establishing  a  new 
abattoir  at  Eleventh  avenue  and  Thirty-ninth  street  in 
this  city.    The  opposition  to  the  project  by  the  depart- 
ment came  at  a  time  when  the  popular  feeling  against  the 
Beef  Trust  was  at  its  height. 
This  fact  and  the  further  one  that  the  new  abattoir  wis  UDii<  r- 
ftood  to  be  part  of  the  plan  of  some  Iidependent  dealers  io  ight  the 


KKW   YORK.  1&C2-190O. 


trust,  made  the  people  very  suspicious  of  Dr.  Lederle's  pood  faith.  It 
was  pointed  out  that  a  new  plant  of  this  character  constructed  under 
plans  embodying  all  the  modern  improvement  could  not  possibly  be 
construed  as  a  menace  to  health  or  even  be  likely  to  cause  any  nui- 
sance or  annoyance  in  the  neighborhood.  At  any  rate,  it  did  not  seem 
to  be  too  much  to  claim  that  the  wonderful  efficiency  accredited  to  the 
Health  Department  might  be  trusted  to  prevent  the  very  necessary  work 
of  providing  meat  for  the  food  of  the  poor  people  from  developing  any 
objectionable  or  dangerous  features. 

Even  that  sturdy  "Fusion"  organ,  the  New  York  Tribune,  questions 
the  correctness  of  the  position  taken  by  Dr.  Lederle.  On  March  14, 
1903,  it  said: 

"It  may  perhaps  be  doubted,  however,  whether  its  deci- 
sion, refusing  to  the  retail  butchers  permission  to  build  a  big 
slaughter  house  at  Bh?renth  avenue  and  Fortieth  street,  is  the 
best  possible  in  the  circumstances.  The  retail  dealers  wish  to 
set  up  an  effective  competition  against  the  members  of  the 
beef  combination,  which  has  raised  the  prices  of  meats  to  un- 
reasonable figures,  and  therefore  they  have  the  spympathy 
and  good  will  of  consumers  generally. 

"The  Health  Department's  refusal  is  defended  on  the 
ground  that  it  is  not  advisable  to  allow  the  construction  of 
more  slaughter  houses  in  the  Borough  of  Manhattan,  no  mat- 
ter who  the  projectors  may  be,  and  it  Is  said  further  that  a 
recently  submitted  plan  for  a  new  abbattoir  on  this  island, 
to  be  raised  by  one  of  the  principal  firms  in  the  so-called 
Beef  Trust,  was  denied  by  the  health  officers.  It  is  plain 
enough,  however,  that  the  two  requests  do  not  stand  in  the 
same  order  of  merit.  The  great  combination  of  firms  who  own 
so  many  stockyards  and  packing  houses  now  controls  every 
abattoir  of  much  size  and  importance  in  this  borough.  The 
Health  Department  ought  not  to  grant  this  corporation  any 
privileges  beyond  those  it  now  possesses.  But  is  it  altogether 
certain  that  it  is  the  best  policy  for  the  benefit  of  the  com- 
munity to  stifle  competition  in  abattoir  enterprise  and  de- 
velopment by  rejecting  the  application  of  the  retail  dealers?" 
The  attitude  of  the  press  and  of  the  public  generally  was  made 
so  manifest  on  this  point  that  Dr.  Lederle  was  reluctantly  compelled 
to  abandon  his  opposition  to  the  competitors  of  the  Beef  Trust. 

SOFT  COAL  NUISANCE  NEGLECTED. 
In  the  Summer  of  1902,  the  Health  Department  was  compelled  to 
relax  somewhat  its  efforts  to  enforce  the  city  ordinances  against  the 
burning  of  soft  coal  in  the  city.  On  account  of  the  coal  strike  and 
the  scarcity  of  anthracite,  the  public  was  tolerant  of  this  course.  It 
must  be  said,  however,  that  the  efforts  which  might  have  been  made  to 
minimize  the  nuisance,  which  was  perhaps  necessary  to  the  situation, 
were  not  comprehensive  or  uniform  in  their  application,  and  when  the 
necessity  for  laxity  was  removed,  there  seemed  to  be  much  of  dis- 
crimination in  the  way  that  coal  consumers  were  treated  in  the  effort  to 
restore  to  its  usual  clear  condition  the  atmosphere  of  the  city.  A 
great  many  complaints  from  citizens  reached  the  department  and  the 
newspapers.  Lederle's  response  was  very  leisurely.  It  was  some  months 
before  much  progress  was  made. 

LEDERLE  MISLEADS  PARKHURST. 
It  is,  however,  in  a  very  little  thing  that  the  real  character  of  the 
"Fusion"  Health  Department  administration  is  best  shown.  Having 
begun  his  administration  by  wholesale  and  indiscriminate  attacks  upon 
his  predecessors  in  the  matter  of  the  purchase  of  supplies,  Dr.  Lederle 
might  be  expected  to  exercise  particular  care  in  that  direction  himself. 
He  had  unhesitatingly  supplied  ammunition  for  fulsome  commendation 
by  the  Citizens'  Union  by  getting  up  a  table  comparing  the  purchases 
of  the  previous  board  with  his  own.  This  was  published  In  the  form 
prepared  and  the  prices  of  items  of  supplies  were  given  without  any 
indicatioj^-of  the  quantity  purchased  in  the  separate  instances  or  of 
the  circumstances  under  which  the  goods  were  supplied  and:  delivered. 
"Whether  the  figures  were  of  any  value  or  entirely  misleading  could  not 


NEW   YORK,    1002— 1003. 


G5 


lie  gleaned  from  the  manner  of  their  presentation.  One  instance, 
however,  is  sufficient  to  make  the  ordinary  reader  suspicious  of  the 
conclusion  drawn  from  them  by  the  friends  of  Dr.  Lederle. 

This  instates  unfortunately  furnished  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Parkhurst  with  an  opportunity  to  make  one  of  his  charac- 
teristic blunders,  as  he  fell  into  the  error  of  repeating  in 
his  pulpit  a  palpably  false  statement  taken  from  this  table. 

DR.  PARKHURST  NEVER  RETRACTS. 
No  Intelligent  person,  even  though  his  understanding  was  cloude<5 
with  putjudice  as  deeply  as  the  doctor's  is,  can  be  excused  for  circulat- 
ing such  a  wild  statement  as  the  doctor  unquestioningly  fathered  in 
his  sermon.  Dr.  Lederle's  accountants  presented  a  statement  that  in  the 
purchase  of  alum  his  department  was  paying  a  fraction  over  two  cents 
a  pound,  while  the  previous  administration's  records  showed  that  they 
had  paid  five  cents  a  pound.  As  a  bald  statement  this  really  does 
not  mean  anything.  The  record  of  the  five  cent  purchase  may  have 
referred  to  the  purchase  of  a  single  pound  sent  out  for  in  an  emergency, 
and  the  two-cent  item  compared  with  it  may  have  been  a  contract 
price  for  a  large  quantity.  Without  going  into  this,  the  doctor's 
dilemma  remains  the  same.  In  their  official  statement  of  the  circum- 
stances, the  Citizens'  Union  printer  made  the  mistake  or  saying  that 
borax,  which  they  confused  with  alum,  had  been  bought  by  Dr.  Lederle 
for  a  fraction  over  two  cents  a  pound,  while  the  previous  Board  of 
Health  had  paid  five  dollars  a  pound.  In  his  pulpit  utterance  on  the 
subject,  Dr.  Parkhurst  supplemented  the  effect  of  this  egregious  error 
by  making  the  sensational  statement  that  it  was  easy  to  tell  what  had 
become  of  the  $4.98  difference.  This  remarkable  instance  of  misrepre- 
sentation, persisted  in  after  its  character  was  exposed,  was  never 
acknowledged  or  retracted  by  Dr.  Parkhurst,  nor  did  any  of  the 
"Fusion"  organs  among  the  newspapers  of  New  York  give  any  pub- 
licity to  the  correction.  The  New  York  Sun,  however,  despite  its  pre- 
dilections in  favor  of  the  "Fusion"  administration  was  fair  enough  to 
expose  the  doctor's  prejudiced  blunder. 

FAKE  REDUCTIONS  OF  FORCE. 

The  Citizens'  Union  publication  of  praise  of  Dr.  Lederle's  department 
contains  the  following  paragraph: 

"Dr.  Lederle  immediately  dismissed  154  employees.  This  he  was 
forced  to  do,  because  of  deficiency  of  appropriation,  but  he  took  care  to 
discharge  as  far  as  possible  those  who  seemed  to  have  little  more  to  do 
than  draw  their  pay.  One  whole  division  in  the  Sanitary  Bureau  was 
abolished  and  two  other  divisions  were  consolidated  into  one.  When 
the  reclassification  of  employees  was  completed,  it  was  found  that  about 
$100,000  had  been  saved  to  the  city  annually  in  salaries  alone." 

When  the  fact  becomes  known  that  the  Sanitary  Bureau,  whose 
abolishment  is  referred  to,  consisted  of  one  man,  the  value  of  this 
x,  hole  paragraph  may  be  readily  estimated. 

FALSE  CLAIMS  OF  ECONOMY.  < 
It  is  further  shown  that  the  claim  of  a  reduction  of  $100,000  in  salaries 
is  wholly  false  and  misleading.  The  reduction  was  the  result  of  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Tenement  House  Department,  which  took  away  from 
the  Health  Department  some  of  the  duties  it  previously  was  charged 
with.  The  police  of  the  Sanitary  Squad  and  the  Tenement  House  Inspec- 
tors, formerly  attached  to  the  Health  Department,  drew  salaries  in 
the  aggregate  amounting  to  about  $100,000.  Of  course,  it  was  sought  to 
give  the  inference  that  the  dismissal  of  154  employees  resulted  in  this 
saving.  The  fact  is,  however,  tljat  it  was  necessary  to  reappoint  nearly 
all  of  the  men  who  were  included  in  this  wholesale  dismissal. 

With  the  transfers  from  the  Tenement  House  Department  and  the 
bond  issues  to  the  Health   Department  for  salaries  considered,  Dr. 
Lederle's  claim  of  saving  $100,000  to  the  city  is  seen  to  be  plain  falsehood. 
COMPARATIVE  TABLE.  . 

1901  appropriations,  salaries,  Board  of  Health  $  545,794.00 

1902  appropriations,  salaries,  Board  of  Health   527,826.00 

This  apparent  saving  of  $18,968  speedily  disappears  when  th% 


C6 


NEW   YOUK.  19011—1903. 


issue  of  re-venue  bonds  for  salaries  In  the  Health  Depart- 
ment is  shown  to  be  .T   104,797.78 

And  the  money  transferred  from  the  Tenement  House  Depart- 
ment is  shown  to  be   46,00.00 

The  resulting  total  of  $678,623.73  is  therefore  an  increase 

over  the -salary  appropriation  of  1901  of   132,829.78 

In  1903  the  increase  continued,  the  Health  Department  salary 

appropriation  was  "   761.665.92 

Revenue  Bonds  for  salaries  amounted  to   71,992.00 


Total   $  833,657.92 


"FUSION"  CLAIMS  RECORD  MADE  YEARS  AGO. 

The  mendacious  character  of  the  Citizens'  Union  Health  Department 
attack  upon  the  previous  Board  of  Health  Commissioners  Is  shown  by 
a  number  of  other  little  items.  The  claim  that  the  binding  of  the 
records  of  the  department  was  a  new  thing  is  absolutely  false.  This 
work  was  always  done  by  the  department.  The  operations  of  the 
Bureau  for  the  Prevention  of  Tuberculosis,  claimed  as  an  innovation  on 
the  part  of  the  new  officials  was  simply  a  continuation  of  the  work  of 
the  previous  Board.  The  investigation  of  the  swamps  and  breeding 
places  of  malaria  with  a  study  of  the  work  necessary  to  prevent  the 
spread  of  disease  from  them  was  begun  under  the  administration  of 
the  Van  Wyck  Health  Board. 

The  campaign  pamphlet  shows  the  disingenuousness  of  its  authors, 
by  stating  barely  the  fact  that  the  first  Municipal  Bacteriological 
Laboratory  ever  established  was  that  of  the  Health  Department  cf  New 
York  City.  This  is  stated  as  though  the  credit  for  this  was  due  to  the 
Lederle  Board.  As  a  matter  of  fact  it  was  established  In  129?. 
and  the  work  done  by  the  Lederle  Board  was  a  continuation  of  that 
which   had   been   going   on   ever  since. 

A  little  indication  that  Dr.  Lederle  may  yet  be  shown  to  have  some 
cf  the  characteristics  of  Secretary  Gustavson  of  the  "Fusion"  Armor;' 
Board  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  Health  Commissioner's  brother-in- 
law  is  interested  in  the  Matt  Taylor  Company,  which  is  doing  all  the 
concrete  work  for  the  Health  Department  and  had  a  big  job  at  the 
Sixteenth  Street  Hospital. 

Chief  Clerk  Bell  of  the  Health  Department  also  shows  some  indica- 
tions of  the  "Fusion"  ideals  of  the  advantages  of  holding  public  c.filce. 
A  great  deal  of  supplies  in  the  form  of  rubber  goods  is  bought  by  the 
Health  Department  from  Hodgman  &  Company.  Mr.  Hodgman  is  Beil'3 
brother-in-law. 


v 

LAWLESS  "REFORM." 

When  Reformers  make  a  raid, 
Armed  with  axe,  and  pick,  and  spade; 
It's  a  circus  for  the  Cits, 
Who  are  subject  to  such  fits; 
With  brass  band  they  make  alarm. 
And  it  works  just  like  a  charm. 

Men  they  lock  up  all  the  night. 

In  the  cells  they  pack  'em  tight; 
In  the  morning,  tired  and  worn, 
To  the  nearest  court  they're  borne? 

Where  the  judge  soon  sets  them  free; 

"No  law  for  such  arrests,"  says  he. 


Democracy  is  the  hope  of  the  people  and  the  only  agency  of  real 
reform. 


NEW   YORK,  1002-1903. 


C7 


LOW'S  "CITY  RECORD"  SCANDAL. 


The  Mayor  Made  This  Unsavory  Mess  His  Own  Affair  by 

Sticking  to  Cowen  to  the  Last. 

The  policy  adopted  by  Mayor  Low  in  the  treatment  of  the  scandal  in 
the  City  Record  office  was  characteristic  and  typical.  The  Supervisor  of 
the  City  Record,  Mr.  Philip  Cowen.  was  selected  for  appointment  by 
Mayor  Low  himself,  the  indorsers  of  the  application  for  his  appoint- 
ment being  men  who  had  been  active  in  the  "Fusion"  campaign.  It 
was,  therefore,  very  difficult  to  convince  Mayor  Low  that  there  could 
be  any  possible  objection  to  Mr.  Cowen.  "The  new  Supervisor  had  been 
in  office  only  a  short  time  when  the  Finance  Department  had  occasion 
to  complain  of  his  methods.  The  first  instance  showing  the  retail 
character  of  the  man  who  was  put  In  charge  of  the  city's  wholesale 
printing  and  stationery  interests  was  shown  by  his  handling  of  the 
cash  drawer.  Although  the  City  Record,  being  an  official  publication, 
has  a  very  small  list  of  paying  subscribers,  the  paper  is  sometimes 
sold  over  the  counter.  The  money  that  is  thus  received  forms  a  petty 
cash  fund  out  of  which  disbursements  when  properly  accounted  for  may 
be  made. 

Under  Supervisor  Cowcn's  management,  instead  of  a 
cash  balance  in  this  drawer,  the  officers  of  the  Finance  De- 
partment found  a  bunch  of  I.  O.  Us.  Whenever  he  needed 
money  Mr.  Cowen  took  it  out  of  the  drawer. 

COWEN'S  NEPOTISM. 

The  Supervisor's  next  exhibition  of  the  "Fusion"  idea,  that  public 
office  is  a  private  snap,  was  when  he  appointed  his  sister  to  do  some 
little  work  of  sorting  and  indexing  in  order  to  get  her  name  on  the  pay 
roll.  None  of  the  formalities  of  Civil  Service  examination  or  authorized 
appointments  were  gone  through  with  and  the  Finance  Department 
would  not  pass  the  pay  roll  on  which  the  lady's  name  had  been  added. 

The  next  development  of  the  eccentricity  of  Mr.  Cowen  was  his 
effort  to  get  his  friend  and  protege,  Liepziger,  appointed  as  the  Super- 
intendent of  the  city's  advertising. 

JOBBERY  IN  CIVIL  SERVICE  EXAMINATION. 

Mindful  of  his  previous  failure  he  resorted  to  the  Civil  Service  Board 
and  applied  to  them  to  have  an  examination  held  for  this  positfon.  The 
subject  was  a  new  one  for  the  Civil  Service  examiners  and  the  Super- 
visor had  an  active  part  in  preparing  the  line  of  questions  to  be  used. 
This  would  seem  to  allow  sufficient  advantage  to  an  applicant  of  his 
own  selection,  but  Cowen  and  Leipziger  were  not  satisfied.  While  the 
examination  was  in  progress  it  was  discovered  that  this  applicant  was 
writing  his  answers  from  a  paper,  with  which  he  had  been  previously 
supplied,  containing  information  on  the  necessary  subjects.  He  was,  of 
course,  kicked  out  and  is  now  barred  from  taking  any  Civil  Service 
examination  or  from  making  application  for  any  public  appointment. 
MAYOR  LOW  BLINDED  BY  PARTIALITY. 

All  these  peculiar  characteristics  were  fully  shown  to  Mayor  Low,  but 
he  stuck  to  his  appointee.  The  natural  result  followed.  Supervisor 
Cowen  got  the  idea  into  his  head  that  in  his  office,  backed  by  the 
Reform  Executive,  he  was  free  to  carry  out  his  personal  notions  and 
do  anything  he  liked.  Running  on  this  plan  he  soon  was  again  in 
trouble  with  the  Finance  Department,  and  Comptroller  Grout  was 
obliged  to  make  formal  charges  against  him  in  the  Board  of  City  Record. 
Mayor  Low  could  not  dispose  of  these  things  in  the  same  cavalier 
manner  that  he  had  done  in  the  previous  petty  cases. 


C3 


NEW   YORK,  1002-1903. 


The  charges  involved  suggestions  of  corruption,  and 
proofs  of  extravagance  and  incompetency  in  the  purchase 
of  stationery  and  supplies.  It  was  also  shown  that  in  the 
handling  of  the  city  advertising  the  methods  were  wasteful 
and  mistakes  were  frequent. 

COMPTROLLER  GROUT  FORCES  COWEN  OUT. 
In  spite  of  the  almost  conclusive  character,  of  the  charges  the  Super- 
visor was  continued  in  office,  attending  in  his  own  fashion  to  its  duties, 
and  piling  up  a  deficiency  by  his  extravagance.  To  be  sure  he  was 
ordered  to  make  a  report  upon  these  charges,  but  was  not  suspended 
or  put  under  any  additional  supervision  or  guidance.  The  matter 
dragged  along  in  this  shape  for  months  until  Comptroller  Grout  grew 
restive  under  the  scandal  and  demanded  action.  By  this  time  the 
Supervisor  was  ready  with  a  voluminous  report  in  which  he  denied  all 
charges.  These  denials  were  shown  to  be  false  in  several  particulars  by 
the  evidence  in  the  hands  of  the  Comptroller,  yet  a  compromise  was 
arranged  between  that  official  and  the  Mayor,  who  still  stood  steadily 
for  Mr.  Cowen,  although  admitting  that  he  seemed  to  have  made  some 
mistakes.  The  compromise  was  that  the  Supervisor  should  be  allowed 
to  resign  and  leave  the  office  with  a  certificate  that  his  administration, 
though  not  satisfactory  and  efficient,  was  not  shown  to  be  dishonest. 
The  official  who  succeeded  Supervisor  Cowen  found  the  affairs  of  the 
office  were  woefully  mixed  up  and  that  a  deficiency  of  $200,000  would  be 
the  result  of  the  operations  for  the  year  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the 
Cowen  administration  lasted  little  longer  than  six  months.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  speculate  on  what  the  deficiency  would  have  been  had  Mpyor 
Low's  stubborn  opposition  to  Comptroller  Grout's  demand  been  \  ^r- 
sisted  in  and  the  Cowen  administration  continued  for  the  whole  yea;  , 


THE  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT 

Arbitrary  Removal  of  an  Ei:  Jsnt  "Fusion"  Official — H*€£^ 
Appointment  of  a  Successor  Who  Can  Be  More  Easily 
Controlled  for  the  Purposes  of  "Fusion's"  Friends 
Among  the  Builders. 

Perez  M.  Stewart  was  appointed  Superintendent  of  the  Bureau  o£ 
Buildings  when  the  Reformers  came  into  power.  Mr.  Stewart  was  one  ox, 
the  few  Fusion  officials  who  managed  the  affairs  of  his  office  on  a  non- 
partisan basis  and  thus  adhered  to^principles  of  the  Reformers  as  they 
promised  in  their  anti-election  pledges. 

Like  many  of  the  other  Fusion  officials  Mr.  Stewart  was  approached 
on  the  subject  of  "graft"  by  unscrupulous  politicians  and  be  it  said  to 
his  credit  that  he  forcibly  ejected  these  go-betweens  from  his  office,  and 
told  them  that  he  was  there  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  that  the  building 
laws  were  obeyed. 

Shortly  after  Mr.  Stewart  thus  made  it  known  that  he  was  an  honest 
man,  some  of  the  ringleaders  in  the  "Fusion"  camp  began  to  make 
trouble  for  him.   They  tried  to  hamper  him  in  every  way  possible. 

From  a  public  point  of  view  Stewart's  management  of  the  Building 
Bureau  was  eminently  satisfactory,  but  politically  it  was  anything  but 
satisfactory  to  the  Greater  New  York  Democracy.  Mr.  Stewart  had 
the  temerity,  among  other  things,  to  discharge  an  incompetent  clerk, 
a  member  of  John  Sheehan's  political  gang.  At  another  time  Mr.  Stewart 
refused  to  i>ermit  some  queer  building  plans  to  go  through  the  bureau 
presented  by  John  J.  Adams,  Cantor's  law  partner.  Adams  made  him- 
self quite  conspicuous  around  the  Building  Bureau  and  tried  to  dictate 
to  Thompson,  but  he  refused  to  take  "orders"  from  Adams  or  any 
politician. 

Then-  was  much  surprise  when  President  Cantor  suddenly  removed 
Commissioner  SU-wart  without  giving  any  reason  for  the  removal. 
There  had  been  no  charges  preferred  against  him,  and  the  formal 


NEW   YORK.    1002— 1903. 


69 


announcement  merely  stated  the  fact,  and  also  that  Henry  S,  Thomp- 
son had  been  appointed  in  his  stead.  The  press  and  public  failed  to 
get  any  explanation  from  Mr.  Cantor.  Said  the  New  York  Herald 
editorially  on  May  3: 

"Putting  aside  all  sinister  rumors  as  to  the  alleged 
influence  of  one  or  another  big  realty  or  building  corpora- 
tion, Mr.  Cantor  owes  it  to  himself,  to  the  man  he  has  re- 
moved and  to  the  people  a  public  explanation  of  this  re- 
markable exercise  of  official  power." 

All  of  the  gossip  and  the  insistent  demands  of  the  press  had  no 
result.  President  Cantor  ignored  the  interest  of  the  public  and  the 
right  of  Mr.  Stewart  by  vouchsafing  no  hint  of  his  motive  in  the 
arbitrary  and  precedent  defying  dismissal. 

But  Cantor  finally  yielded  to  the  demand  and  imparted  the  informa- 
tion that  caused  him  to  dismiss  Stewart.  But  unfortunately  for  the 
public,  Cantor  only  told  one  man,  and  he  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  Parkhurst. 
Most  people  were  surprised  to  find  that  the  Borough  President  con- 
sidered himself  responsible  to  the  clergyman  and  not  to  the  people  who 
elected  him.  Shortly  after  being  confided  with  this  secret  the  doctor 
sailed  for  Europe,  and  it  is  not  recorded  that  he  ever  imparted  the 
secret  to  any  one  else. 

Henry  P.  Thompson,  a  young  society  man,  was  appointed  Stewart's 
successor  on  April  30,  1903. 

Leaving  Princeton  College  in  1891,  Mr.  Thompson  was  engaged  look- 
ing after  the  financial  department  of  his  firm  the  Thompson-Starrett 
Construction  Company,  and  later  with  the  Fuller  and  the  United  States 
Realty  and  Construction  Company.  It  was  not  known  that  he  had  ever 
had  any  practical  experience  of  the  building  or  technical  departments 
of  his  concerns. 

Mr.  Thompson  refused  to  give  any  information  as  to  his  experience 
as  a  builder,  and  had  never  even  studied  any  of  the  basic  principles  at 
school  or  college. 

Circumstances  developed  which  caused  public  inquiry  to  be  made 
into  Mr.  Thompson's  qualifications,  and  no  little  scandal  was  caused 
when  the  fact  that  he  had  been  graduated  from  college  within  ten  years 
of  the  date  of  his  appointment.    The  Charter  provides  that: 

"Every  Superintendent  of  Buildings  shall  be  a  competent  architect  or 
builder  of  at  least  ten  years'  experience." 

Absolutely  no  notice  whatever  was  taken  by  the  Mayor  or  President 
Cantor  of  the  protest  that  he  was  not  eligible  for  the  office — because 
the  charter  expressly  stipulated  that  the  person  appointed  to  that 
office  must  have  had  at  least  ten  years'  experience  as  an  architect  or 
builder.  It  was  shown  that  the  young  man,  who  is  now  in  charge  of  a 
department  having  control  of  the  construction  of  $100,000,000  worth  of 
new  buildings  every  year,  had  merely  been  the  fiscal  officer  in  big 
construction  corporations,  and  that  he  had  never  been  a  practical 
builder. 

So  important  an  official  as  Comptroller  Grout  objected,  and  refused 
to  pay  Mr.  Thompson  any  salary  until  Mr.  Rives,  the  "Fusion"  Cor- 
poration Counsel,  had  so  ordered.  The  legality  of  this  appointment  has 
therefore  never  been  tested.  The  patent  facts  connected  with  his  selec- 
tion indicate  very  clearly  that  the  young  man  was  chosen  because  he 
had  the  support  of  the  great  capitalists  and  real  estate  operators  upon 
whose  enterprises  it  will  be  his  official  duties  to  pass.  The  question  of 
his  technical  competency  was  never  considered,  apparently. 

One  of  Thompson's  strongest  backers  for  the  position  was  John 
Rockefeller's  Bible  class.  About  the  time  of  Thompson's  appointment 
it  became  known  that  the  younger  Rockefeller  was  largely  interested  in 
a  prominent  building  concern.  As  the  Rockefeller  family  has  absorbed 
about  everything  else  in  sight,  and  have  lately  gone  into  the  erection  of 
buildings,  it  is  not  surprising  that  they  wanted  a  friend  in  the  Bureau 
of  Buildings. 

It  is  significant  that  immediately  after  Mr.  Thompson's  appoint- 
ment, the  United  States  Realty  and  Construction  Company,  hi«  late 
employer,  announced  projected  building  operations  amounting  to 
$3,000,000. 

Some  lawyers  have  given  it  as  their  opinion  that  until  the  court* 


70 


NEW   YORK,  1902-1303. 


have  passed  upon  the  constitutionality  of  his  appointment  there  i3 
danger  that  all  his  official  acts  might  be  eventually  declared  illegal. 
This  possibility  threatens  many  very  grave  complications. 

The  voters  can  safely  say  that  the  selection  of  Henry  S.  Thompson 
for  the  important  office  of  Building  Superintendent  was  a  flag-ant 
breach  of  the  pledges  given  before  his  election  by  Mayor  Low.  The 
young  man  was  chosen  much  as  Herr  Gustav  Lindenthal  was  tr.r  the 
position  of  Commissioner  of  Bridges— because  he  was  identified  with 
vast  corporation  interests  whose  ventures  were  within  the  official  control 
of  the  city  authorities  and  which  might  at  any  time  make  it  necessary 
to  have  a  friend  at  court. 


THE  TENEMENT  DEPARTMENT. 


Organized  Under  "Fusion,"  It  Has  Spent  Money  Lavishly  and 
Accomplished  No  Good — Non-Residents  and  Grafters 
in  Charge — The  Wealthy  Commissioner  Practic- 
ally an  Absentee  Executive. 

One  of  the  few  cases  where  the  Fusion  administration  was  con- 
fronted with  the  responsibilities  of  organizing  a  department  is  found  in 
the  Tenement  House  Commission.  The  work  was  undertaken  with  a  great 
flourish  of  trumpets,  but  the  results  are  utterly  inadequate.  Greater 
New  York  must  be  congratulated  that  no  such  thing  as  a  Low-"Fusion" 
administration  was  confronted  in  1898  with  the  gigantic  task  of  organiz- 
ing the  consolidated  city  under  the  new  charter  which  then  went  into 
effect. 

Robert  W.  De  Forest  was  appointed  Tenement  House  Commissioner 
by  Mayor  Low  on  January  1,  1902,  and  his  salary  is  $7,500  per  year. 
De  Forest  is  a  millionaire  and  a  corporation  lawyer.  He  is  an  active 
member  of  the  law  firm  of  De  Forest  Brothers,  and  that  firm  is  the 
counsel  for  the  Central  Railroad  of  New  Jersey.  De  Forest  spends  a 
greater  part  of  his  time  in  his  law  offices,  and  he  is  a  director  of  several 
corporations.  He  was  formerly  identified  with  the  Charity  Organization 
Society,  and  he  has  virtually  turned  the  Tenement  House  Commission 
over  to  that  society. 

De  Forest  rarely  goes  to  the  office  of  the  Commission 
in  East  Eighteenth  street,  and  the  affairs  of  the  depart- 
ment are  looked  after  by  Lawrence  Veiller,  Deputy  Com- 
missioner. 

Veiller  is  the  "whole  thing"  in  the  department,  and  his  word  is  law 
in  the  main  office.  De  Forest  has  already  planned  to  make  him  the 
Commissioner.  This  plan  ehay  fail  on  account  of  the  discovery  of 
practices  on  the  part  of  Vellier  which  the  Reformers  would  consider 
sufficient  for  a  pass  port  to  Sing  Sing  if  discovered  in  the  administration 
of  Democrats.  Veiller  was  formerly  an  instructor  in  the  City  College,  and 
he  was  discharged  from  that  institution  for  "incompetency,"  but  there 
were  some  very  serious  charges  against  him.  Through  his  connection 
with  the  Charity  Organization  Society,  influence  was  brought  to  bear, 
and  Veiller  got  out  on  the  formal  complaint  of  "incompetency."  But 
Veiller  was  persistent  and  secured  a  position  as  clerk  in  the  Building 
Bureau.  He  assumed  the  authority  of  the  Commissioner  by  writing  let- 
ters and  signing  them  with  his  chiefs  stamp.  He  was  afterward 
charged  with  some  crooked  work,  and  was  fired  on  the  fpot  for  that. 
GRAFTING  HOUSEHOLD  *  FURNITURE. 

During  this  time  Veiller  was  still  connected  with  the  Charity  Organ- 
ization Society  and  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  De  Forest,  but  De  For- 
est will  be  better  acquainted  with  Veiller  when  he  reads  this.  How- 
ever, De  Forest  appointed  Veiller  Deputy  Commissioner  and  he  started 
in  to  "feather  his  own  nest,"  not  only  in  the  department,  but  in  his  own 
home. 


NEW   YORK.  1902-1903. 


71 


For  occasionally  a  furniture  dealer's  wagon  would 
drive  around  to  his  house  and  leave  a  present  in  the  shape 
of  a  chair  or  table,  as  was  done  at  Patterson's  house,  de- 
scribed below. 

Yeiller  "feathered  his  nest"  in  the  office  by  appointing  over  60  per 
cent,  of  the  officials  and  employees  from  those  who  had  been  connected 
with  the  Charity  Organization-Society.  In  fact,  these  people  were 
favored  in  every  way  possible,  and  the  Commission  was  made  a 
political  "retreat"  for  them.  Out  of  160  inspectors  appointed,  over 
60  had  been  connected  with  the  society.  These  people  have  been  retained 
in  the  office  on  "soft  snaps,"  that  is,  they  rarely  had  anything  to  do 
but  look  pleasant  and  salute  Veiller  occasionally.  There  was  a  long 
list  of  women  on  the  eligible  list  for  appointment  as  inspectors,  and 
Veiller  sent  out  a  circular  in  which  he  stated  that  he  would  appoint  no 
more  female  inspectors.  A  few  days  afterward  Veiller  violated  the 
law  and  appointed  seven  women  from  the  Charity  Society  who  had 
never  taken  an  examination  of  any  kind.  Veiller  was  certainly  good  to 
the  Charity  Organization  Society.  Had  they  not  got  him  out  of  trouble, 
and  was  it  not  through  them  that  he  received  his  appointment? 

Another  instance  of  Veiller  showing  preference  for  Charity  Organ- 
ization workers  is  cited:  Twenty-five  clerks  were  worthing  in  the  office 
who  had  taken  the  examination  and  were  on  the  eligible  list  for  appoint- 
ment as  Inspectors.  Veiller  called  these  clerks  into  his"  private  office 
and  told  every  one  of  them  that  they  must  request  the  Civil  Service 
Commission  to  remove  their  names  from  the  eligible  list.  He  further 
told  them  that  if  they  were  appointed — and  they  were  the  first  names 
on  the  list — that  they  would  be  discharged  for  "incompetency."  He 
explained  that  he  had  promised  these  inspectorships  to  the  Charity 
Society,  and  their  men  must  get  the  jobs,  no  matter  how  low  their 
rating  was. 

John  D.  Duncklee  was  appointed  as  a  "Superintendent."  He  is  a 
relative  of  De  Forest,  and  draws  a  salary  of  $3,000  for  just  standing 
around  and  looking  pleasant.  He  is  supposed  to  be  in  charge  of  the 
work  in  the  Bronx  office.  The  department  has  rented  an  olfice  up  there, 
but  it  has  never  been  opened  for  business.  In  it  is  stored  a  lot  of  furni- 
ture, also  bought  by  Veiller  and  Patterson.  Duncklee  comes  to  the  main 
office  about  once  a  week,  looks  wise  and  disappears  for  another  period  of 
rest.  .  He  never  bothers  about  doing  work,  because  he  is  a  "Superin- 
tendent." 

IOWAN  "RAILROADED"  INTO  POSITION. 

William  R.  Patterson  is  designated  as  the  "Register  or  Statistics," 
and  gets  $3,000  per  year.  He  is  well  known  as  the  man  wTho  was  "rail- 
roaded' into  his  job. 

Patterson  was  a  sc!>oo!  teacher  out  in  Iowa,  and 
through  friends  was  recommended  to  De  Forest  by  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt.  He  came  to  town  one  week  and  went  to 
work  the  next.  In  his  case  the  Civil  Service  law  was  vio- 
lated. 

There  was  an  eligible  list  of  names  for  the  position,  but  Veiller 
allowed  him  to  take  a  non-competitive  examination  and  go  to  work. 
There  was  no  competitive  examination  held  after  he  was  appointed,  and 
to  all  inquiries  Veiller  answered  that  there  was  no  vacancy.  The  papers 
devoted  considerable  space  to  the  case  at  the  time. 

Patterson  formed  an  alliance  with  Veiller  and  assisted  ,him  to  select 
some  very  expensive  furniture  for  the  main  office  of  the  Commission. 

Since  Patterson  has  been  in  office  he  has  bought  over  $30,000  worth 
of  furniture,  and,  in  direct  violation  of  the  law,  has  not  advertised  for 
bids  nor  even  made  any  contracts.  The  salesman  simply  came  around 
and  Patterson  told  him  what  he  wanted  and  it  was  sent  up.  The  law 
distinctly  states  that  all  contracts  over  a  thousand  dollars  shall  be 
advertised  and  let  to  the  lowest  bidder.  But  Patterson  paid  no  atten- 
tion to  the  law.  He  just  sent  down  and  told  his  friend,  the .  salesman, 
what  he  needed.  Nearly  every  time  the  furniture  wagon  came  up  with 
a  load  of  office  furniture  there  was  some  article  left  in  the  wagon  and 
taken  up  to  Patterson's  house. 


NEW   YORK.    1902-1 900. 


A  few  months  ago  Patterson  bright  over  $5,000  worth 
of  office  furniture  in  one  day,  without  any  bidding,  as  in 
the  other  cases  mentioned.    When  the  furniture  was  de- 
livered there  was  a  chiffionier  in  the  load,  and  the  driver 
of  the  wagon  was  ordered  to  take  it  to  Pattercon's  house. 
This  looks  like  a  clear  case  of  graft  if  ever  there  was  one. 
A  few  weeks  later  Patterson  was  told  by  Veiller  to  order  some  filing 
cabinets,  amounting  to  $1,440.    This  time  a  Morris  ch^ir  came  up  *vith 
the  load,  and  Veiller  saw  it  first,  so  it  went  to  his  house.    Of  course. 
Patterson  had  just  moved  here  from  Iowa  and  he  needed  all  the  furni- 
ture he  could  get,  but  he  could  not  expect  all  the  graft.   However,  he 
has  his  place  pretty  well  furnished  by  this  time. 

But  Veiller  has  the  best  of  Patterson  in  one  respect,  and  that  is 
in  the  ^use  of  cabs  at  the  expense  of  the  department.  Being  the  acting 
head  of  the  department,  Veiller  thought  it  would  be  the  proper  thing  to 
ride  to  the  office  and  home  again  in  a  hansom  cab.  Accordingly  a  cab- 
was  engaged  by  the  month,  at  $150  per  month,  to  bring  Veiller  down  in 
the  morning  and  take  him  out  to  lunch  and  home  at  night.  The  t>ills 
have  been  objected  to  by  the  Comptroller  several  times,  but  the  city  has 
to  settle  in  the  end.  This  cab  business  has  been  going  on  for  over  a 
year,  and  any  ftne  can  see  the  hansome  waiting  for  Veiller  at  Irving 
place  and  Eighteenth  street  any  day. 

MORE  GRAFT  AND  EXTRAVAGANCE. 
Furniture  is  not  the  only  graft  in  the  Tenement  House  Commission. 
Veiller  ordered  the  Inspectors  to  buy  their  hats  of  Mark  Cowen,  of 
Lafayette  place.    Cowen  is  a  brother  of  Philip  Cowen,  who  was  kicked 
out  of  the  City  Record  office  last  Summer.   The  Inspectors  were  charged 
$2  for  their  hats  and  they  are  worth  about  35  cents.    Veiller  called 
all  of  the  Inspectors  in  his  office  and  "advised"  them  to  buy  their 
uniforms  of  Cowen,  as  he  was  a  "personal  friend"  of  his.    More  graft. 
The  Fusionists  have  claimed  this  is  an  economical  ad- 
ministration.   Evidently  they  did  not  include  this  depart- 
ment in  their  claims.    Patterson  bought  sixteen  water  cool- 
ers for  $259.50  that  could  be  bought  anywhere  for  less  than 
$60.    Letter  presses  were  bought  for  $18  that  were  worth 
$3.50.    A  large  piece  of  glass  was  ordered  for  De  Forest's 
desk  for  which  the  city  paid  $15,  and  it  would  be  dear  at 
$2.    These  extravagant  prices  for  supplies  look  very  much 
as  if  some  one  was  getting  a  "rake-off." 

There  were  several  thousand  dollars  appropriated  for  salaries  that 
were  diverted  to  other  purposes  without  permission  of  the  Board  of 
Estimate.  Veiller  got  up  an  edition  "de  luxe"  of  the  tenement  law  and 
had  it  bound  in  expensive  leather.  This  book  was  sent  to  De  Forest's 
friends  all  over  the  world.  Some  more  of  the  "salary*'  money  went  for 
several  thousand  copies  of  a  newspaper  containing  accounts  of  De 
Forest's  Tenement  Commission,  and  the  things  he  said  he  Intended  to 
do,  but  never  accomplished.  As  a  reformer  of  tenements,  De  Forest  is  as 
inuc1:  i  failure  as  Richard  Watson  Gilder.  No  doubt  the  tenements  need 
attention,  but  De  Forest  should  not  neglect  to  reform  his  department. 
DISCRIMINATION  AGAINST  HEBREWS. 

While  the  Tenement  House  Commission  has  been  yery  friendly  with 
the  Charity  Organization  Society  it  has  shown  a  marked  discrimination 
against  the  Hebrew  race.  If  a  Jew  was  recommended  for  appointment 
he  was  sent  for  and  questioned  by  Veiller.  He  was  asked  if  he  would 
work  on  a  Jewish  holiday.  If  he  said  no,  he  was  not  appointed.  Some 
of  them  replied  that  they  had  no  objection  to  working  on  a  holiday, 
and  then  they  were  asked  some  other  personal  questions  to  lead  to 
seme  ground  of  objection.  If  possible.  Several  of  them  were  at  the 
head  of  the  eligible  list  and  had  to  be  appointed.  Those  who  were  given 
positions  were  the  objects  of  the  personal  animosity  of  Veiller,  who  is  a 
Frenchman.  They  were  given  all  the  hard  work,  and  often  Insulted. 
Several  gave  up  their  positions  in  disgust 

But  the  climax  came  on  September  21,  when  Veiller  posted  a  notice, 
stating  that  if  any  Hebrew  failed  to  work  on  the  Jewish  holidays  this 


KEW   YORK.  1902-1903. 


T3 


year  he  would  be  fined,  or  dismissed,  in  his  discretion.  The  matter  wad 
reported  to  several  Hebrew  societies,  and  they  are  making  an  investi- 
gation. 

It's  a  queer  kind  of  "reform"  that  discriminates  against  any  one's 
nationality  or  religion.  De  Forest  should  give  a  little  more  of  his  time 
to  his  department  and  not  so  much  to  the  corporations.  Even  if  he  is 
a  millionaire,  he  is  paid  to  look  after  the  tenements  by  the  city,  and  not 
to  delegate  the  work  to  such  grafters  as  Veiller  and  Patterson. 


THE  "FUSION"  ARMORY  BOARD. 


The  Usual  Scandal  and  the  Usual  Relief  from  Punishment  by- 
Low. 

The  reluctance  with  which  Mayor  Low  admits  that  there  is  any  possi- 
bility of  fault  in  the  "Fusion"  administration  may  be  a  commendable 
trait,  but  it  would  seem  that  a  few  more  lessons  on  the  subject  would 
discourage  him  in  this  attitude.  The  Armory  Board  scandal  was  no 
exception  to  the  rule  of  Mayor  Low's  complacent  and  self-satisfied  indif- 
ference to  conditions  in  his  own  official  family  that  he  would  severely 
criticise  if  shown  anywhere  else. 

The  Armory  Board  is  composed  chiefly  of  ex-officio  members.  Low 
presides  himself,  the  Comptroller  is  a  member,  and  so  is  the  ranking 
officer  of  the  National  Guard  in  this  Division.  This  results,  of  course, 
in  making  an  executive  officer  with  large  powers  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Board.  The  Fusion  candidate  for  this  place  was  John  P.  Gustave- 
son.  He  was  contributed  to  the  "Fusion"  conglomeration  by  the  Repub- 
lican contingent,  and  William  H.  Ten  Eyck  was  his  backer.  It  is  per- 
haps a  further  proof  that  Mayor  Low  is  given  over  to  the  Republican 
party  "body,  boots  and  breeches,"  to  find  him  standing  as  firmly  in 
opposition  to  the  charges  against  Mr.  Gustaveson  as  he  did  in  opposi- 
tion to  those  against  Supervisor  Cowen,  whose  politics  can  only  be 
described  as  a  "Fusion"  mixture. 

It  was  only  after  many  weeks  of  insistence  on  the  part  of  the 
Comptroller  and  the  very  persistent  publicity  given  to  the  matter  by 
the  Brooklyn  Citizen  that  the  Armory  Board,  which  the  Mayor  domi- 
nates, gave  any  heed  to  the  charges.  In  passing,  the  public  may  note 
that  the  press  of  New  York,  being  largely  responsible  for  the  election  of 
the  "Fusion"  ticket,  tried  to  avoid  giving  this  scandal  any  publicity  on 
this  side  of  the  River.  Brooklyn's  concern  in  it  was  no  greater  than 
ours,  but  there  happens  to  be  a  Democratic  newspaper  over  there  that 
is  not  tarred  with  the  "Fusion"  brush. 

The  sweeping  charge  was  made  that  Secretary  Gus- 
taveson had  ignored  all  the  provisions  of  the  law  in  regard 
to  advertising  for  contracts,   making   specifications  and 
taking  competitive  bids.    The  alleged  firm  of  Henry  Day 
&  Co.,  which  was  really  a  cover  for  Henry  C.  Gustaveson, 
was  given  orders  for  ail  kinds  of  supplies  and  work  of 
every  description.    The  administration  itself  admitted  that 
it  was  a  case  of  absolute  criminality. 
Many  lawyers  are  of  the  opinion  that  a  felony  is  also  involved.  In 
paying  the  bills  of  Henry  Day  &  Co.,  Secretary  Gustaveson  took  the 
acknowledgement  of  his  own  brother  as  an  official,  permitting  him  to 
sign  as  "Henry  Day."    What  degrees  of  forgery  and  felony  are  in- 
volved In  this  transaction  has  never  been  made  public. 

It  was  on  May  15,  1903.  that  Comptroller  Grout  announced  that  he 
had  discovered  grafting  in  the  Armory  Board.  He  said  with  much 
indignation: 

"It  is  the  most  damnable  piece  of  roguery  that  has 
ever  come  under  my  notice." 

Mr.  Grout  charged  specifically  that  boatloads  of  coal  "SO  per  cent, 
dirt  and  20  per  cent,  coal"  had  beeu  delivered  to  the  various  armories 


7-1 


NEW   YORK,  1002-1903. 


in  the  city,  and  in  many  instances  it  would  not  burn;  that  the  contract 
had  been  given  to  a  "dummy"  company"  known  as  the  "Henry  Day 
Company,"  which  consisted  of  Henry  C.  Gustaveson,  a  brother  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Board,  and  who  was  also  known  as  Henry  Day,  and 
George  Tarrant;  that  Day  &  Co.  had  been  paid  for  repairing  armories, 
supplying  drugs,  plumbing,  iron  work,  carpentry  and  painting. 

Coal  had  been  charged  for  at  the  rate  of  $9  a  ton,  but  the  Comptroller 
refused  to  pay  more  than  $5  for  it.  Notwithstanding  that  he  denied  it. 
it  was  proved  that  Secretary  Gustaveson  had  been  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Day  &  Co.  as  late  as  189S,  if  he  was  not  actually  so  at  the  time  the 
contracts  were  given  to  his  brother  as  Henry  Day. 

When  the  Armory  Board  began  an  investigation  Secretary  Gustave- 
son was  suspended.  The  Commissioners  of  Accounts  reported  that 
yearly  appropriations  had  been  exhausted  in  five  months,  and  that  the 
National  Guard  had  been  embarrassed  thereby;  that  favoritism  ha<l 
been  shown  in  the  letting  of  contracts,  and  records  burned  to  conceal 
underhand  work. 

In  the  face  of  these  findings  the  Armory  Board,  by  a  unanimous 
vote/  removed  Secretary  Gustaveson  on  the  simple  plea  that  his  work 
had  not  been  "satisfactory."  This  was  on  July  20,  1903.  He  had  offered 
to  resign,  but  the  Mayor  refused  his  request  and  put  a  motion  to  dismiss 
him,  which  was  passed. 

Gustaveson  is  a  Republican  and  was  urged  for  the  position  by  Tax 
Commissioner  Wells  and  Aqueduct  Commissioner  William  H.  Ten  Eyek. 
He  was  held  up  by  them  as  an  example  of  what  a  citizen  of  rectitude 
should  be  and  an  example  for  all  good  "Pusionists"  to  follow.  Yet  on 
September  21,  the  day  upon  which  William  Hepburn  Russeli  resigned 
his  position  as  Commissioner  of  Accounts,  he  said: 

"The  rottenest  piece  of  political  corruption  I  discov- 
ered during  my  examination  of  accounts  was  in  the  office 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Armory  Board." 

District  Attorney  Jerome  paid  no  attention  to  the.  case,  and  our 
Reform  Mayor,  Mr.  Low,  did  not  call  the  attention  of  the  Grand  Jury 
to  it  or  take  it  to  a  Police  Magistrate's  Court. 

Even  with  the  incredible  example  given  in  the  case  of  Supervisor 
of  the  City  Record  Cowen  it  is  hard  to  believe  the  facts  of  the  record 
that  Mayor  Low  and  his  Armory  Board  let  Secretary  Gustaveson  resign 
his  position.  Mayor  Low's  Commissioners  of  Accounts  made  a  report 
on  the  matter  in  which  they  said  while  they  fully  acquitted  the  Secre- 
taiy  of  having  caused  any  loss  to  the  city  by  extravagant  contracts 
or  by  having  any  connection  with  or  interest  in  the  contracts  and  from 
any  action  which  tended  to  the  loss  or  injury  of  the  city  they  declar* 
him  guilty  of  certain  favoritism  and  irregularities  in  the  performance  of 
his  duties.  In  this  case  again  Comptroller  Grout  was  uot  satisfied  as 
easily  as  the  Mayor,  and  after  a  hearing  given  to  the  Secretary,  in 
which  he  was  represented  by  very  able  counsel,  he  was  dismissed. 
Although  too  much  to  blame  himself  to  be  properly  described  as  a  scape- 
goat, it  cannot  be  denied  that  Secretary  Gustaveson's  superiors,  the 
members  of  the  Armory  Board,  were  much  to  be  censured,  it  had  evi- 
dently handled  its  business  in  careless,  loose  and  unsystematic  fashion 
and  must  have  been  cognizant  of  the  fact  that  many  of  its  contracts 
were  let  without  competitive  bidding  and  that  much  of  its  supplies 
were  purchased  without  complying  with  the  formalities  of  the  law. 


"Mayor  Low's  a  mighty  ruler.    He's  a  splendid  city  head." 

So  declares  the  high  and  mighty  prince  of  fakes. 
He's  a  man  of  great  refinement  and  undoubtedly  well  bred. 

What  a  pity  he  should  make  a  few  mistakes. 


Vclc  against  "Fusion"  fraud  and  false  pretense. 

Honest  Democracy,  purged  of  Deveryism,  welcomes  the  return  of 
her  worthy  sont. 


Vote  for  Honest  Democratic  City  Government  In  touch  with  the 
wants  of  the  people. 


NEW  YORK.    1902-1903.  .  73 


DEPARTMENT  OF  WATER  SUPPLY 


"Fusion"  Commissioner  Monroe's  Extravagance  and  Favorit- 
ism— Laborers  Dismissed  and  Small  Salaries  Cut  to 
Fatten  Fees  of  Columbia  Professors. 

Facts  tell  most  eloquently  the  story  of  the  failure  of  "Fusion"  to 
properly  protect  and  manage  the  Department  of  Water  Supply,  which 
was  committed  by  Mayor  Low  to  the  care  of  the  Arch-Reformer,  Robert 
Grier  Monroe.  The  latter,  who  like  nearly  all  of  the  "Fusion"  depart- 
ment chiefs,  bears  the  military  title  of  "Colonel,"  was  regarded  as  the 
most  practical  politician  in  Mayor  Low's  cabinet,  and  he  was  expected 
to  be  the  most  enthusiastic  partisan  of  the  Republican-Cit-Reform 
Trinity. 

That  his  administration  has  resulted  in  as  much  cor- 
ruption and  petty  graft  as  that  of  the  other  branches  of 
the  "Fusion"  grafting  tree  is  not  surprising. 

Some  of  the  acts  of  this  Reformer  of  Reformers,  which  have  calle<i 
down  the  severe  criticism  of  the  newspapers  06  every  class  are: 

That  he  sought  to  build  up  the  "Fusion"  machine  by  the 
creation  and  disposal  of  patronage,  without  regard  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  working  force. 

That  the  salaries  of  subordinates  were  reduced  and  the 
services  of  laboring  men  dispensed  with,  so  that  higher  offi- 
cials should  be  paid  more. 

That  the  force  of  employees  in  the  Water  Registers  and 
Engineers'  Department  was  doubled,  the  new  appointees  be- 
ing mostly  professors  and  students  of  Columbia  College,  with 
importations  from  Providence,  R.  I.,  Baltimore  and  other 
places. 

That  from  January  1  to  August  1,  1903,  the  sum  of  $175,000 
was  spent  in  special  work,  the  beneficiaries  being  Professor 
Seaver  and  two  other  Columbia  College  professors  and  grad- 
uates. 

That  in  August.  1903,  twenty  months  after  Mayor  Low's 
inauguration,  extensive  frauds  were  discovered  by  the  New 
York  American  in  the  Meter  Department. 

That  apartment  houses,  hotels,  clubs,  etc.,  had  suffered 
from  a  shortage  of  supply,  entailing  danger  from  fire  and 
other  losses,  and  that  in  the  Bronx  Borough  drinking  water 
could  not  be  had. 

That  generally  the  management  of  Commissioner  Monroe 
was  characterized  by  extravagance,  incompetency,  neglect  and 
a  thirst  for  patronage. 

CUT  SMALL  PAY,  RAISE  BIG  SALARIES. 
The  first  act  of  Commissioner  Monroe  was  to  reduce 
the    salaries  of  the  working  force  from  10  to  20  per  cent. 
The  pay  of  typewriters  and  clerks  with  families,  who  were 
getting  $900  to  $2,000  a  year  was  cut,  but  gradual  in- 
creases were  bestowed  on  "Fusion"  appointees.    A  great 
number  of  laborers  were  dropped  from  the  rolls. 
Professor  Seaver  of  Columbia  College  was  appointed  Consulting 
Engineer  of  Electrical  Construction  at  $4,000  a  year.    There  is  no  such 
work  as  electrical   construction  in  the  Water  Department,  and  the 
professor  never  appeared  at  the  office.    Nor  did  he  even  deign  to  call 
on  pay  days  to  sign  the  roll.    Indeed,  on  every  occasion  it  was  necessary 
for  a  clerk  to  call  him  up  on  the  Columbia  College  'phone  and  ask  him 
to  call  and  sign  the  receipt. 


7G 


NEW   YORK,  1002-1003. 


Professor  Burr  of  Columbia,  College,  John  R.  Freeman  of  Rhode 
Island  and  another  were  paid  $12,000  each— $36,000  in  all— for  less  than 
a  year's  supernumerary  and  consulting  work.  The  total  sum  paid  to 
them  and  to  youths  of  Columbia  who  acted  as  their  assistants  from 
January  1  to  August  1,  1903,  was  $175,000.  This  included  the  price  of 
a  new  steam  launch,  hotel  bills  and  personal  expenses. 

In  the  Bureau  of  the  Water  Register  and  the  Engineers1  Department 
the  number  of  clerks  and  inspectors  was  doubled  by  Colonel  Monroe. 
The  Chief  Engineer,  George  W.  Birdsall,  who  had  never  oeen  identified 
with  any  political  party  in  his  official  career  of  thirty  years,  was  side- 
tracked. He  possessed  invaluable  knowledge  of  the  location  of  mains, 
connections,  pipes  and  the  intricacies  of  the  system.  In  order  to  retain 
his  services  for  difficult  work,  he  was  made  consulting  engineer  at  the 
same  salary  $7,500. 

Then  N.  S.  Hill  of  Baltimore  was  imported  and  made  Chief  Engineer 
in  Birdsall's  place  at  a  salary  of  $10,000  a  year,  and  he  was  provided 
with  an  automobile. 

In  every  instance  where  it  was  feasible  graduates  of 
Mayor  Low's  Columbia  College  were  selected,  the  pay  roll 
being  increased  at  least  $20,000  a  year  in  the  Engineer's  of- 
fice, making,  with  the  salary  of  Mr.  Hill,  $30,000  more  than 
before  in  one  division  within  one  year. 

A  SPECIMEN  REFORM  OFFICIAL. 

Alonzo  S.  Gear,  Water  Register  of  the  Bronx,  who  was  appointed 
by  the  Strong  "Reform"  administration,  dismissed  by  the  Van 
Wyck  administration;  then  reinstated  by  the  Low  "Reform"  adminis- 
tration, was  suspended  on  May  17,  1903,  on  three  complaints— incompe- 
tency, insubordination  and  swearing.  He  had  asked  for  14  more  assist- 
ants in  addition  to  the  24  allotted  him.  but  it  was  found  that  they 
were  not  needed.  He  was  accused  of  writing  to  Governor  Odelt,  Police 
Commissioner  Greene  and  others  criticising  Mr.  Munroe,  and  also  of 
ordering  his  clerks  not  to  speak  to  him  except  through  his  Chief  Clerk. 
NO  RELIEF  FROM  MONROE. 

Albert  T.  Foster,  manager  of  the  Algonquin  apartment  house,  with 
other  proprietors  of  the  high-class  apartment  houses,  hotels,  and  clubs 
on  Forty-fourth  and  Forty-fifth  street  between  Fifth  and  Sixth  avenues 
complained  that  they  could  not  get  water  pressure  to  supply  their  guests 
and  tenants.  In  one  hotel  the  boiler  fires  had  to  be  put  out  because  the 
water  got  so  low  that  it  became  dangerous. 

"We  had  to  shut  down  our  refrigerating  plant  once  or  twice  because 
of  the  shortage  of  water,"  said  J.  C.  Miller,  proprietor  of  the  Seymour 
and  the  Iroquois.    "The  danger  by  fire  would  have  been  vers'  great." 
"FUSION"  TAXES  ON  BUILDERS'. 

By  an  order  of  Commissioner  Monroe,  every  contractor  using  city 
water,  has  in  addition  to  paying  two  inspectors  at  a  cost  ol  $220  per 
month,  to  pay  $3  a  day  to  an  inspector  who  stands  by  the  hydrant  and 
turns  the  water  on  and  off.  This  is  something  which  was  never 
required  before.  The  Borough  President  appoints  a  $100  a  month  inspec- 
tor, the  Commissioner  one  at  $120  a  month,  and  in  case  they  do  not 
agree  the  Commissioner  appoints  a  third  to  decide,  the  contractor  paying 
the  entire  expense. 

On  August  9,  1903,  it  was  claimed  that  Commissioner  Monroe  had 
caused  to  be  illegally  collected  from  $3  to  $10  a  year  each  for  alleged 
extra  water  service  to  bakers,  barbers,  florists,  laundries,  milk  dealers, 
restaurants,  fish  dealers,  saloonkeepers,  photographers  and  others, 
ft  I  though  Section  473  of  the  Charter  prescribes  that  the  Board  of  Alder- 
men shall  fix  a  uniform  scale. 


"MR.  RIVES'  "  KINDERGARTKN 
Mayor  Low's  Corporation  Counsel.  George  L.  Rives,  surroar>4c«l 
himself  in  that  offiee  with  young  society  fellows  who  knew  little  about 
the  city  and  cared  less.  When  rules  of  strict  etiquette  were  pro- 
mulgated, the  chief  order  being  to  the  effect  thai  in  speaking  or  writing 
to  or  about  the  Corporation  Counsel  no  ene  matt  tvir  in-glcct  to  call  Liiu 
"Mr.  Rives." 


NEW   YORK,  1002-19U3. 


77 


MR.   RIVES'"    CORPORATION   COUNSEL'S  OFFICE 
KINDERGARTEN. 


78 


NEW   YORK,  1902—1903. 


FUSION'S  LAW  DEPARTMENT. 


Mr.  George  L.  Rives,  Mayor  Low's  appointee  as  counsel  to  the  Cor- 
poration, confirms  the  belief  that  the  whole  "Fusion"  outfit  think  them- 
selves different  from  and  better  than  the  people  in  whose  service  they 
are  employed.  He  holds  himself  aloof  in  an  atmosphere  of  superiority, 
and  when  he  does  descend  into  the  domain  of  practical  effort  and  the 
consideration  of  everyday  matters  he  usually  manages  to  make  him- 
self ridiculous.  For  months  after  he  was  appointed  the  newspapers 
regularly  called  upon  the  Mayor  to  get  rid  of  him,  but  that  official's 
self-sufficiency  extends  to  and  covers  his  appointees  so  that  he  never 
can  see  that  anything  is  the  matter  with  them. 

Mr.  Rives,  when  interviewed  at  Newport  on  the  subject  of  his 
duties,  said:  "My  office  is  a  sort  of  clearing  house  for  all  of  the  depart- 
ments of  the  municipal  government.  Almost  all  of  them  come  to  me  at 
some  time  or  other  for  some  sort  of  advice."  It  was  in  this  same  talk 
that  he  delivered  himself  of  the  famous  opinion  that  "The  Reform 
administration  of  Greater  New  York  has  done  everything  that  is  good 
and  nothing  that  is  bad." 

This  comprehensive  commendation,  which,  of  course,  includes  his 
own  work,  will  not  bear  analysis  in  the  Law  Department  or  any  other. 
It  is  simply  another  sample *of  the  'Fusion"  fashion  of  claiming  every- 
thing.   The  fact  is  that  Mr.  Rives  has  repeatedly  signed  opinions  which 
he  had  to  recall  and  reverse  within  twenty-four  hours,  and  has  often 
advised  officials  to  courses  which  they  have  found  it  impossible  to  follow. 
The  single  example  of  the  Bedell  bill  was  sufficient  to 
stamp  him  as  eternally  unfit  to  represent  the  city  in  any 
capacity.    This  iniquitous  measure  handed  over  to  the  cor- 
porations  all  the  streets  and  all  the  rights  that  they  have 
not  already  grabbed  and  put  the  city  at  the  mercy  of  mo- 
nopolies. 

So  flagrant  were  its  provisions  that  all  of  the  Albany  correspondents 
supported  the  attacks  made  on  the  bill  by  the  Democratic  legislators, 
and  the  great  journals  of  the  city  criticised  it  so  severely  that  it  was 
abandoned  by  its  sponsor  and  virtually  repudiated. even  by  Rives  and 
Low. 

There  were  many  other  instances  of  similar  blundering  in  connection 
with  proposed  legislation,  and  instead  of  being  a  protection  to  the  city 
in  watching  for  dangerous  legislation,  the  city's  law  officer  had  to  be 
watched  with  great  vigilance  to  keep  him  from  advancing  bad  bills 
that  were  drafted  by  himself.  The  Sturgis  bill,  giving  to  a  Fire  Com- 
missioner whose  lack  of  judicial  fairness  was  already  demonstrated,  the 
absolute  and  autocratic  power  of  dismissal  was  not  opposed  by  the 
Corporation  Counsel  because  it  was  a  Fusion-Republican  job.  The  out- 
rageous bill,  under  whose  provisions,  if  enacted  into  law,  a  New 
York  city  school  teacher  could  be  dismissed  for  an  infraction  of  a 
Board  of  Education  by-law,  was  killed  by  the  force  of  public  opinion, 
but  not  objected  to  by  Mr.  Rives*  representative.  The  Mayor's  "Sweep" 
bills,  abrogating  the  Civil  Service  law,  if  not  subverting  the  Constitu- 
tion, were  the  product  of  the  Rives'  bill  factory.  Governor  Odeil'a 
mortgage  tax  bill  and  other  experimental  forays  in  every  direction  to 
seek  relief  from  taxes  for  the  farmer  were  not  opposed  on  behalf  of 
the  city,  albeit  many  of  them  were  so  drawn  as  to  militate  agaln«t  ns 
here.  ' 

Mr.  Rives  was  again  peculiar  in  his  attitude  upon  the  Blatter  of 
opening  streets  through  the  city  parks.   The  New  York  World,  January 


NEW   YORK.  1002-1003. 


79 


IS.  1003,  condemned  "Mr.  Rives'  desire  for  a  bill  giving  New  York  city 
power  to  open  streets  through  any  public  park."  and  said: 

"In  such  a  measure  would  lurk  more  of  peril  to  the 

park  system — and  particularly  to  Central  Park — than  of 

possible  utility  to  the  public." 
The  project  which  Mr.  Rives  lent  his  assistance  to  was  one  formed 
by  the  wealthy  residents  in  the  neighborhood  of  East  Seventy-s-econd 
street,  who  petitioned  to  have  the  name  of  that  thoroughfare  changed 
to  "Park  lane"  in  imitation  of  the  famous,  exclusive  residence  street  in 
the  West  End,  London.  They  also  wanted  to  have  the  streets  on  which 
they  lived  cut  through  the  park.  This  would,  of  course,  enhance  the 
value  of  their  properties  and  give  the  section  an  air  of  aristocracy,  but 
it  would  at  the  same  time  destroy  the  park  features  of  the  people's 
pleasure  ground. 

Mr.  Rives  is  further  distinguished  by  his  record  as  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  City  Record  where  he  stood  loyally  with  the  Mayor  behind 
Superintendent  Cowen,  whom  Comptroller  Grout  had  accused  of  unbusi- 
nesslike methods  which  more  than  suggested  corruption,  as  well  as 
general  inefficiency.  tj 
MR.  RIVES'  ARISTOCRATIC  FRIENDS. 

Corporation  Counsel -George  Rives  aggrieved  many  Bronx  citizens 
by  recommending  for  appointment  as  commissioners  on  street  opening 
proceedings  in  that  Borough,  several  wealthy  residents  of  Throgg's  Neclc, 
who  are  members  of  the  fashionable  country  club  set.  Three  appoint- 
ments which  caused  particular  surprise  were  those  of  Mr.  Alfred  W. 
Cooley,  Francis  de  Ruyter  Wissman,  and  Henry  A.  Coster.  All  of 
these  men  reside  on  Throgg's  Neck.  Mr.  Cooley  was  appointed  a  mem- 
ber of  the  United  States  Civil  Service  Commission  by  President  Roose- 
velt, whose  personal  representative  he  v/as  on  the  floor  of  the  Assembly, 
when  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  Governor. 


FUSION'S  STREET  CLEANS  DEPARTMENT. 


Frauds,  Scandals,  Extravagance  and  Inefficiency. 

Experience  of  "Fusion"  Republican  Reform  has  proved  very  costi/ 
to  taxpayers  and  irritating  to  citizens  of  every  class,  so  far  as  the 
administration  of  the  Street  Cleaning  Department  under  Major  John 
McGraw  Woodbury  is  concerned. 

Indeed  were  it  not  for  the  serious  addition  to  the  expenditures  of 
the  city  for  two  years,  the  mismanagement  of  the  medico-military  expert 
would  be  a  source  of  amusement.  Passing  over  his  well-known  eccentric 
personality;  his  bumptious  self-consciousness,  and  extravagant  lan- 
guage; the  key  to  his  incumbency  of  this  important  branch  of  municipal 
government  has  been  financial  waste,  and  danger  to  the  health  of  the 
inhabitants.  It  is  a  notorious  fact,  that  the  streets  of  the  city  have 
never  been  so  filthy  or  neglected.  Yet  in  his  first  year.  Commissioner 
"Woodbury  received  over  $300,C00  more  than  his  predecessor,  apart  from 
special  appropriations. 

Grafting,  blackmail  and  shakedowns  have  been  discov- 
ered, and  no  attempt  made  to  bring  the  offenders  to  jus- 
tice. 

The  extent-  to  which  the  department  was  disorganized,  may  be> 
gathered  from  the  recorded  fact  that  on  one  occasion  he.  transferred 
the  entire  street  cleaning  force  from  Brooklyn  to  Manhattan,  leaving 
the  borough  across  the  river  without  any  service.  !  , 

"Certain  eccentricities  of  manner  seemed  to  have  conveyed 
the  impression  to  those  who  have  come  in  contact  with  him 
that  he  is  not  very  practical,"  said  the  New  York  Times  edi- 
torially on  January  7,  1S02. 
The  prominent  feature  of  Major  Woodbury's  administration  was 
his  continuous  demand  for  more  assistants,  more  horses,  more  carta. 


80 


NEW   YORK.  1903-1**. 


Eiore  maeninery.  more  plant,  more  stables,  and  more  money,  particularly 
the  latter.  As  early  as  January  15.  1942.  he  got  from  the  Board  of 
Estimate  a  bond  issue  of  31M,1<60  to  buy  plant  and  stock,  alleging  that 
he  must  have  at  once  PQ&  horses,  tfft  steel  ash  carts.  2*  double  steel  ash 
carts.  75  bicycles,  and  other  things,  including  a  dump  at  the  foot  of 
West  Seventy-ninth  street,  costing  $7 .5*00.  and  a  crematory  at  West 
Forty-seventh  street,  costing  The  request  was  granted,  although 

a  similar  rt^uesi  made  by  bis  predecessor  was  refused. 

THE  S.XOW  REMOVAL  SCANDALS. 
It  was  at  this  time  that  the  waste  and  fraud  were  discovered  hi 
the  department-  Snow  Superintendent  Clark  announced  that  certain 
inspectors  had  given  away  tickets  in  bunches  while  they  were  drinking 
in  saloons,  and  that  men  had  collected  for  delivery  of  loads  when  they 
Lad  not  done  any  work.  Others  had  filled  their  carts  with  snow  a 
short  distance  from  the  dumps  and  received  tickets.  The  same  sum  was 
paid  for  a  short  or  long  hauL 

M.  D.  Ronton.  Superintendent  of  Street  Cleaning,  investigated  the 
snow  removal  scandal,  and  declared  that  the  city  had  been  robbed  of 
thousands  of  dollars,  and  it  was  alleged  that  owners  of  wagons  Which 
did  n»t  convey  full  loads  were  paid  for  full  loads,  and  that  snow  col- 
lected uptown  was  dumped  on  vacant  lots  in  some  cases  only  fifty 
feet  from  the  place  of  loading;  and  that  drivers  were  paid  as  if  they 
had  collected  the  snow  and  carried  it  to  the  dumping  docks. 

Superintendent  Bout  on  found  that  in  Brooklyn  in  one 
day  15.000  tickets  had  been  issued  to  cart  drivers,  but  that 
there  had  not  been  enough  streets  cleaned  to  warrant 
the  giving  out  of  so  many.  On  the  following  day  only  7,000 
tickets  were  given  out  and  the  number  of  streets  cleaned 
showed  a  decrease  of  only  20  per  cent.  .This  made  a  differ- 
ence of  more  than  $5,000  in  the  cost  of  street  cleaning  for 
one  day. 

The  same  official  learned  that  the  wagons  did  not  contain  the 
regulated  amount  of  one  and  a  half  cubic  yards.  Some  wagons  carried 
less  than  half  the  legal  measure,  yet  the  drivers  collected  seventy-five 
cents  for  each  load. 

In  a  nutshell,  the  amount  of  money  paid  out  the  day  before  Mr. 
Bo u ton  took  charge  was  S1LCSC:  while  on  the  day  he  issued  the  tickets 
himself  it  dropped  to  35,11$,  which  showed  a  loss  to  the  city  at  the  rate 
of  $39,420  in  six  days. 

Commissioner  Woodbury  had  practically  carte  blanche 
as  to  expense,  yet  streets  were  blocked,  business  was  de- 
layed, and  slush  and  dirt  bred  disease.  The  snow  in  the 
streets  of  New  York  above  Fifty-ninth  street  was  un- 
touched. No  previous  commissioner  ever  dared  to  be 
guilty  of  such  neglect. 

EXTRAVAGANT  STABLE  BUILDING. 

In  the  revised  budget  of  1*92  the  Commissioner  asked  for  an  increase 
of  about  $300,004  over  the  amount  which  the  previous  administration  had 
deemed  sufficient.  This  made  his  total  demand  35.464.C11- ©5.  Notwith- 
standing this,  the  Low  administration  agreed  without  demur  or  inves- 
tigation to  grant  Dr.  Woodbury  whatever  he  asked  for. 

The  crowning  glory  of  Commissioner  Woodbury's  official  career  was 
his  successful  plea  for  the  sum  of  £395.000  to  the  Board  of  Estimate  and 
Apportionment  to  construct  a  stable  for  his  department  in  Brooklyn. 
Comptroller  Grout  was  amazed  at  the  request,  and  objected,  saying  he 
saw  from  the  plans  that  It  was  proposed  to  erect  a  beautiful  building 
in  the  French  style  of  architecture. 

"1  don't  see  any  necessity  for  the  city's  being  called  upon  to  spend 
so  much  money  for  a  beautiful  chateau  in  which  to  stable  horses,"  said 
Mr.  Grout. 

But  Dr.  Woodbury  pleaded  hard  and  said  that  he  wanted  to  have 
a  repair  shop,  storage  room, .  wardrobe  lockers  and  shower  and  tub 
baths  for  his  men. 

Then  Mr.  Groat  yielded,  except  that  he  thought  the  mansard  roof 


should  be  dispensed  with.  But  the  Street  Commissioner  had  his  way, 
and  every  member  of  the  board  voted  for  the  extravagant  structure. 
WOODBURY  DISCRIMINATES  AGAINST  MERCHANTS. 
'Merchants,  dry  gxxis  men  and  department  store  firms  were  so 
angered  at  the  treatment  meted  out  to  them  by  Commissioner  Wood- 
bury, that  they  went  to  the  Supreme  Court  on  February  13.  and 
asked  for  a  mandamus  to  compel  the  Commissioner  to  remove  ashes 
and  other  refuse  from  their  premises  and  the  adjacent  streets.  He 
had  refused  to  do  so,  and  the  complainants  alleged  that  he  had  dis- 
criminated against  them  unlawfully,  fearing  that  the  necessary  ex- 
penditure would  exhaust  his  appropriation.  Hays  and  Herschfield. 
counsel  for  the  firms,  proved  that  Dr.  Woodbury  had  removed  ashes 
and  refuse  from  the  private  residences  and  apartment  houses  in  the 
vicinity  of  their  stores  since  November  24.  1502.  but  had  declined  to 
cause  the  removal  from  any  other  buildings.  Repeated  requests  had 
been  ignored.  The  Commissioner,  it  was  related,  had  said  he  feared 
that  his  entire  appropriation  would  be  used  up  long  before  the  end  of 
the  year  if  he  removed  all  the  refuse  in  the  business  districts.  He  had 
hitherto  done  so  as  a  favor  and  not  as  a  duty. 

In  arguing  for  the  Street  Commissioner,  the  assistant  corporation 
counsel.  Mr.  McGuire,  made  the  novel  plea  that  if  the  citizens  were 
dissatisfied  with  the  results  of  Major  Woodbury's  work  "the  polls  were 
open  to  them  for  a  change  of  administration." 

BLACKMAIL  AND  CORRUPTION  CHARGED. 
In  March,  1902,  the  Drivers,  Sweepers  and  Hostlers' 
Union  charged  that  $2r500  a  week  was  being  collected  in 
blaickmail  money  by  foremen  of  the  Street  Cleaning  De- 
partment and  their  agents.  District  Attorney  Jerome  at 
the  time  said: 

**The  department  is  absolutely  honeycombed  with  cor- 
ruption." 

But  no  attempt  appears  to  have  been  made  to  find  out  who  was 
collecting  the  "graft,"  and  Mr.  Jerome,  with  all  his  constitutional 
authority  and  power,  did  not  bring  any  of  the  alleged  blackmailers  to 
justice. 

On  February  19.  1903.  Michael  Dilfippo  and  Joseph  Martello.  two 
laborers,  complained  to  Magistrate  Flammer  that  they  had  been  hired 
to  shovel  snow.  The  foremen  asked  them  for  their  tickets  and,  as 
they  did  not  have  any,  they  were  told  to  go  to  a  saloon  nearby  and 
pay  the  proprietor  twenty-five  cents  each,  and  they  would  receive  a 
ticket  entitling  them  to  work.  The  men  claimed  that  over  one  hun- 
dred men  had  paid  tribute  at  this  saloon.  On  Christmas  Day  forty 
dollars  had  been  paid  at  this  one  place  for  blackmail,  independently  of 
the  money  which  the  laborers  were  expected  to  spend  for  drink.  But 
the  administration  took  no  steps  to  end  the  graft. 

Albert  Karschar.  of  No.  208  East  102d  street,  who  was  arrested  on 
complaint  of  the  Street  Cleaning  Department,  told  Magistrate  Zeller 
in  court  that  he  had  refused  to  pay  $2  a  month  for  the  removal  of  ashes 
and  refuse  from  each  of  his  twenty-six  houses  in  the  city. 

"I  am  morally  certain  there  is  a  'shake-down'  in  this 

—  case,"  said  the  Magistrate.    "I  know  of  a  case  where  a 
man  had  to  pay  $30  before  he  could  get  his  refuse  re- 
moved." 

But  the  Street  Commissioner  only  replied: 

"I  don't  believe  there  are  such  things  as  'shake-downs'  in  the  de- 
partment." 

And  that  closed  the  incident. 

FADDIST  AND  AUTOCRAT. 

Another  fad  of  the  Commissioner  is  his  posing  as  a  lecturer.  He 
appeared  on  the  platform,  describing  his  work  and  using  lantern  slides 
giving  views  of  selected  streets  to  illustrate  his  success. 

Suits  for  thousands  of -dollars  damages  were  begun  in  January,  1903, 
as  a  result  of  a  quagmire  in  New  street  between  Wall  street  and 
Exchange  place.  There  were  dozens  of  cases  of  typhoid  fever  caused  bar 
the  fiithy  conditions- 


NEW   YORK,  1002—1903. 


It  was  in  February,  1903,  that  the  Street  Commissioner  decided  that 
he  should  be  clothed  with  police  powers,  so  Assemblyman  Wright,  at 
the  request  of  the  Low  administration,  introduced  a  bill  at  Albany 
providing  the  Street  Commissioner  with  a  permanent  detail  of  seventy 
men  from  the  regular  force.  The  bill  also  provided  for  double  the 
force  of  medical  examiners,  and  an  increased  force  of  veterinary  sur- 
geons. Three  general  inspectors,  a  civil  engineer,  and  many  increases 
of  salary  were  requested  for  some  of  the  officials. 

Thereafter  peremptory  arrests  were  the  rule,  where  citizens  did  not 
obey  the  Commissioner,  and  one  teamster  was  arrested  by  Dr.  Wood- 
bury himself  on  one  occasion,  because  he  did  not  move  his  truck  out  of 
the  way  of  the  Commissioner  s  wagon.  The  offender  was  fined  $3  in 
court. 

WOODBURY  WANTS  INCREASE. 

Dr.  Woodbury  was  forced  to  acknowledge  that  he  had  not  made  a 
conspicuous  success  in  his  department  and  when  interviewed  as  to  the 
many,  complaints  in  January,  3903,  he  said,  airily: 

"Give  me  $1,000,000  more  and  I  will  put  this  department  in  shape. 
We  need  500  more  horses,  500  more  carts,  500  more  drivers,  50  more 
hostlers,  three  new  stables,  foremen,  assistant  foremen,  stable  clerks, 
added  water  front  accommodations,  and  500  sets  of  harness." 


REPUBLICAN  FUSION  EXTRAVAGANCE  IN   DEPARTMENT  OF 
STREET  CLEANING  FIRST  SIX  MONTHS  OF  1902. 
FINAL  DISPOSITION. 

Increased  cost 
of  Fusion  in 
1902.  1901.  1902. 

Total  expenditure   $139,000  $378,000  $S1,000 

Or  an  increased  expenditure  in  1902  of  16  per  cent. 

Loads  in  favor 
1902.  1901.       of  Fusion. 

Loads,  of  refuse  material  disposed  of....  970,500  916,500  54,000 

On  an  increase  in  favor  of  Fusion  of  5%  per  cent. 

NET  INCREASED  PERCENTAGE  COST  OF  FUSION. 

Per  Cent. 

Net  increased  cost  of  Fusion  16 

Deduct  loads  in  favor  of  Fusion   5^2 


Republican-Fusion  extravagance  10% 

Total  cost  per  load  to  dispose  of  all  refuse  in  1902  exceeds  1901  by 

nearly  4  per  cent,  per  load,  or  a  total  increased  cost  of  nearly  $40,000  as 

a  result  of  Republican  administration. 


Don't  make  those  goo-goo  eyes  at  me, 
Says  little  old  New  York; 

I  "know  Reform  gold  bricks,  my  boy, 
I  know  the  rot  you  talk. 


Vote  against  "Fusion"  fraud  and  false  pretense. 


CHAIRMAN  BRUCE  AND   "MR.  DEVERY." 

"Mr.  Devery,"  discredited  in  every  other  direction  and  banished  from 
the  ranks  of  the  .purified  Democracy.,  still  has  the  regard  and  support 
of  Chairman  Bruce  of  the  Republican  County  Committee. 

Chairman  Bmoe  look  it  upon  himself  to  sound  a  warning  to  the 
leaders  of  the  Democracy  in  his  great  oonoern  over  the  expressions  of 
irrevocable  opposition  to  the  continuous  performance  primary  contestant 
in  the  Nint\  '.J'  _  „.         J  J  i 

It  is  certninly  a  shame  to  have  Chairman  Bruce  so  disappointed 
over  the  results  of  his  investment  in  an  alliance  with  the  collapsed 
disciple  of  "hot  air"  in  politics. 


Vote  against  Republicanism  masked  as  non-partisanship. 


NFW   YORK,  1902-1903. 


83 


B4 


NEW   YORK,    1902— 190& 


"FUSION'S"  PARK  DEPARTMENT. 


Plenty  of  Money  Spent  and  Little  to  Show  for  It — Hundreds 
of  Republican  Henchmen  Appointed  as  "Assistant 
Gardeners." 

'  The  Fusion  administration's  Department  of  Parks  is  pointing  with 
pride  to  a  record  of  four  new  parks  opened  as  compared  with  one 
opened  during  the  previous  administration.  Of  course,  it  need  not  be 
explained  that  it  is  absolutely  impossible  for  any  park  property  to  have 
been  acquired  and  opened  for  park  purposes  within  the  period  that 
this  administration  has  been  in  office.  It  is  a  matter  of  several  years 
to  carry  through  the  legal  proceedings  for  the  condemnation  of  land 
for  park  purposes,  after  wThich  the  work  of  tearing  down  and  removing 
the  buildings  and  surveying  and  laying  out  the  site  and  improving  it 
for  park  purposes  is  a  matter  of  several  years  more. 

Therefore,  these  parks  "cpened"  with  such  eclat  by 
President  Willccx  and  his  feliow  commissioners  of  the 
Fusion  Board  must  be  credited  to  their  predecessors. 

The  members  of  the  present  Board  of  Park  Commissioners  have 
been  very  active,  and  have  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  having  unlim- 
ited funds  at  their  disposal.  This  has  been  accomplished  by  the  resort 
to  bond  issues.  The  Board  of  Estimate  has  been  very  liberal  in  au- 
thorizing such  issues,  and  the  result  has  been  great  activity  and  bustle 
in  park  department  work.  If  the  Commissioners  could  claim  an  equal 
showing  of  results  accomplished,  they  would  have  reason  to  be  proud 
of  themselves.  Unfortunately,  however,  there  is  very  little  to  show  for 
all  this  expenditure.  Most  of  it  has  been  wasted,  as  in  the  case  of 
appropriations  for  the  improvement  of  the  Central  Park  drives.  These 
drives  Were  in  excellent  condition;  yet  President  Willcox  has  spent  many 
thousands  of  dollars  in  the  work  of  replacing  their  shale  surface  with 
gravel.  In  this  work  it  must  be  confessed  the  men  were  obliged  to 
do  something. 

WASTEFUL,  INCREASE  OF  LABORING  FORCE. 

In  most  of  the  places  where  the  payroll  expenses  have  been  largely 
increased  the  result  has  not  been  any  additional  work.  There  has  been 
nothing  for  the  men  to  do,  and  they  have  lounged  about  in  each  other's 
way,  even  crowding  the  basement  of  the  Arsenal,  where  the  offices 
of  the  park  commission  are  located,  In  such  numbers  as  to  create  a 
scandal  that  must  have  attracted  public  attention. 

In  spite  of  this  fact  the  payrolls  of  the  Park  Department  show  a 
most  remarkable  absence  of  men  drawing  pay  under  the  title  of  laborers. 
This  is  the  result  of  one  of  the  peculiar  "Fusion"  practices  of  juggling 
with  the  Civil  Service.  The  Park  Commissioners,  upon  taking  office, 
found  themselves  under  a  tremendous  pressure  from  the  Republican 
machine  for  places  for  unskilled  laborers.  President  Willcox  was  in 
despair  and  unable  to  respond  to  the  demands  of  his  party  friends.  In 
February,  1902,  at  a  dinner  of  the  Republican  Club  in  the  Twenty-second 
District,  he  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  leaders  of  the  party  must 
spend  nineteen  hours  out  of  every  twenty-four  in  hunting  after  pat- 
ronage, and  dolefully  protested  that  he  was  getting  much  too  great  a 
share  of  their  attention.  He  begged  them  to  ease  up  on  him.  There  was 
no  let  up  and  the  result  was: 

THE  "ASSISTANT  GARDENER"  FAKE. 

The  City  Record's  official  roster,  published  July  20,  1903.  contains  a 
list  of  several  hundred  men  employed  under  this  title.  In  spite  of  the 
requirement  of  law  that  the  title  under  which  a  man  is  appointed 
should  show  the  nature  of  the  duties  he  performs,  tharc  is  nothing 
whatever  to  show  any  distinction  in  the  character  of  the  work  of  any 


0 

NEW   YORK.  1002-1903. 


85 


©f^.  these  assistant  gardeners.  Yet  when  the  men  are  looked  up  and 
traced  to  their  various  occupations  it  is  found  that  an  astonishing 
variety  of  positions  is  concealed  under  the  title.  Clerical  work  in  the 
offices  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  department  is  performed  by  some  of 
them.  Painters  and  other  workmen  in  the  mechanical  branch  of  the 
department  sign  the  payroll  beside  the  designation  of  assistant  gardener. 
Drivers  who  gayly  hold  the  reins  over  department  horses  are  officially 
known  as  assistant  gardeners.  There  seems  to  be  no  end  to  the  ver- 
satility of  the  men  grouped  under  this  elastic  title. 

As  an  indication  of  the  extent  to  which  the  appointment  of  assistant 
gardeners  and  the  stuffing  of  the  ranks  of  unskilled  laborers  under  this 
designation  has  been  carried,  it  has  been  found  by  investigation  in  the 
Comptroller's  office  that 

The  payrolls  for  the  corresponding  weeks  in  August,  1  £01 
and  1903,  show  an  increase  from  $1,600  in  the  former  year 
to  $16,650  in  the  latter  year. 

PLAYGROUND    MANAGEMENT  .FAULTY. 

President  Willcox  especially  plumes  himself  on  the  record  of  his 
department  since  January,  1902,  in  the  matter  of  opening  and  main- 
taining playgrounds  for  children.  These  playgrounds  are  in  Seward 
Park,  Hamilton  Fish  Park,  DeWitt  Clinton  Park  and  Thomas  Jefferson 
Park.  The  one  in  Seward  Park  was  in  operation  during  the  term  of 
the  previous  board;  the  one  in  Hamilton  Fish  Park  was  completed  and 
in  use  before  that  board  went  out  of  office;  and  the  one  in  Thomas 
Jefferson  Park  had  been  made  possible  by  the  energetic  work  done  under 
former  Commissioner  Clausen  in  clearing  off  the  buildings  and  grading 
and  surveying  the  site  of  that  park,  even  though  it  was  known  that 
it  would  be  some  years  before  a  sufficient  appropriation  would  be  avail- 
able for  its  permanent  improvement.  The  playground  in  DeWitt  Clinton 
Park  is  a  new  one.  it  having  been  established  since  January  1,  1902. 

In  connection  with  this  claim  of  credit  for  the  playgrounds,  it  is 
perhaps  not  out  of  place  to  call  attention  to  their  present  status.  It  is  the 
opinion  of  many  of  the  friends  of  the  movement  for  their  establishment 
that  under  the  management  of  -the  present  Park  Board  they  are  very 
far  from  realizing  the  advantages  expected  of  them  or  which  they  are 
capable  of  affording.  A  very  important  expectation  concerning  them 
was*  that  they  would  be  so  managed  as  to  afford  places  of  healthful 
recreation  to  the  younger  children  of  the  neighborhoods  in  which  they 
*vvere  established.   This  feature  seems  to  have  been  entirely  lost  sight  of. 

There  is  no  discipline  enforced  among  the  children  who  resort  to 
these  playgrounds,  and  the  natural  result  is  that  the  larger  and  stronger 
children  are  in  complete  possession  of  all  their  facilities.  The  little 
ones  are  crowded  out  and  forced  back  into  the  streets,  from  which  it 
was  planned,  to  rescue  them.  The  active  youngsters  who  are  able  to 
stand  their  ground  in  the  city's  play  places,  according  to  the  principle 
of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  are  a  pretty  hard  lot.  They  believe  in 
very  strenuous  amusement;  and  the  apparatus  of  the  gymnasium  play- 
grounds suffers  so  severely  under  their  assaults  that  the  requisitions 
which  reached  the  Park  Department  for  replacing  it  ar«  received  almost 
daily. 

EXTRAVAGANT  OFFICIALS. 
Everything  about  the  park  department  savors  of  extravagance.  As 
eoon  as  it  was  installed  in  office,  costly  improvements  were  planned  and 
carried  out  in  the  Arsenal  Building,  where  the  headquarters  of  the 
department  is  located. The  next  development  in  this  direction  was  fur- 
nished by  the  secretary  of  the  board,  Mr.  Terry,  in  the  purchase  of  a 
pair  of  horses  for  ostensible  use  in  trips  of  inspection  and  supervision. 
In  the  whole  history  of  the  Park  Department  no  larger  price  than  $250 
had  ever  been  paid  for  a  horse,  even  when  it  was  necessary  to  fur- 
nish mounts  for  the  mounted  policemen.  For  the  secretary's  use,  how- 
ever, nothing  could  be  found  for  less  than  $400  a  head  that  was  good 
enough;  and  he  could  not  be  satisfied  without  having  a  team  purchased 
for  hitn  at  that  figure.  The  secretary's  vigilance  in  the  matter  of 
making  the  inspections  for  which  his  team  of  horses  was  purchased  is 
so  conscientious  tha.t  -a;*;e.s»«rver  he  is  otherwise  engaged  be  loans  the 
Park  Department  horses  te  trusted  friends,  to  whom  he  delegates  thia 


NEW   YORK,  1902-1903. 


Work  of  inspection  and  keeps  the  team  well  exercised.  The  Secretary 
moved  up  from  the  office  of  a  downtown  beusiness  concern,  in  which  he 
was  interested,  to  take  the  position  of  Secretary  of  the  Board.  Shortly 
afterward  he  was  followed  by  the  furniture  and  fittings  of  his  former 
office,  which  were  stored  in  the  Park  Department  Building. 

SCANDAL  IN  RENTING  CITY  PROPERTY. 

President  Willcox  depends  very  largely  upon  the  secretary  of  the 
board  in  the  details  of  the  conduct  of  the  affairs  of  the  Department. 
Sometimes,  however,  he  finds  it  necessary  to  give  personal  attention  to 
such  little  matters. 

In  May,  1902,  the  buildings  remaining  on  the  site  of  DeWitt  Clinton 
Park  were  sold  for  removal  as  a  step  toward  the  work  of  improvement 
there.  The  terms  of  sale,  as  stated  by  the  auctioneer  at  the  time  that 
he  took  the  bids,  required  that  the  buildings  should  be  removed  within 
a  specified  brief  period.  All  of  the  buildings  were  promptly  removed 
by  the  purchasers  according-  to  the  terms*  of  the  sale,  except  a  brick 
structure  occupied  |jy  a  silk  manufacturer.  This  building  was  left 
standing,  and  this  factory  continued  in  operation  for  several  months 
after  all  the  others  were  razed  to  the  ground. 

It  was  not  until  the  middle  or  last  of  December  that  the  machinery 
was  removed  from  the  factory  and  the  work  of  tearing  down  the  build- 
ing begun.  The  influence  which  operated  to  secure  this  discrimination 
was  that  of  a  political  and  personal  friend  of  Commissioner  Willcox, 
who  persuaded  him  to  permit  this  delay.  As  the  building  had  been  sold 
by  the  City,  the  Bureau  of  City  Revenue  could  not  collect  rent  for  its 
use  and  occupancy,  nor  was  there  any  way  in  which  the  Park  Depart- 
ment officials  could  make  any  charge  to  the  occupant. 

It  is  said,  however,  that  the  privilege  of  remaining 
there  and  keeping  his  factory  in  operation  was  worth  a 
thousand  dollars  a  month  to  the  proprietor,  and  that  there 
is  no  doubt  that  payment  upon  this  basis  was  made  to 
somebody. 


"FUSION"  AND  RAPID  TRANSIT. 


More  Ridiculous  Efforts  to  Grab  Credit  for  Things  Which 

Low's  Officials  Had  Nothing  to  Do  With. 

The  Citizens'  Union  campaign  document,  issued  on  the 
subject  of  Rapid  Transit,  is  a  notable  example  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  manufacture  alleged  history. 

It  claims  for  the  credit  of  the  Fusion  administration  everything 
that  has  been  done,  or  planned  in  the  direction  of  improvement  in  transit 
facilities  within  the  city  limits,  despite  the  fact  that  nearly  everything 
to  which  they  refer  ante-dates  in  conception  or  in  some  considerable 
progress  the  birth  of  the  Low-Fusion  administration. 

In  addition  to  this  wholesale  appropriation  of  the  results  of  the 
efforts  of  many  administrations,  of  the  Rapid  Transit  Commission  and 
of  the  transportation  corporations,  who  have  devoted  themselves  to 
transit  questions  in  years  past,  the  C.  U.  chronicle  teems  with  false 
statements  about  the  record  of  its  predecessors.  These  false  statements 
are  supplemented  by  equally  mischievous  statements  that  are  partly  true, 
but  are  so  treated  as  to  be  only  misleading  In  their  effect. 

The  mischief  making  effect  of  this  remarkable  political  document 
is,  however,  very  slight,  when  it  is  considered  as  a  whole.  Any  intelli- 
gent citizen  who  reads  it  through  will  find  that  in  its  claims  there  are 
enough  which  are  palpably  false  to  discredit  the  whole  document.  After 
its  voluminous  assertions  of  entire  responsibility  for  all  the  good  that 
has  been  accomplished  and  all  the  improvements  that  are  planned,  the 
Citizens'  Union  manifesto  descends  from  the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous, 
by  publishing  in  apparent  seriousness  claims  for  credit  to  Fusion  in 
the  following  language: 


NEW   YORK.    1902  -19rtH. 


S7 


ABSURD  FUSION  CLAIM. 

"The  Manhattan  Elevated  Railway  System  has  availed 
itself  of  the  progressive  attitude  of  this  administration  to 
make  extensive  improvements  upon  its  lines,  the  most  con- 
spicuous being  the  change  of  motive  power  from  steam  to 
electricity.  This  company  is  now  arranging  to  make  altera- 
tions to  their  stations,  to  the  great  convenience  of  the 
public." 

The  absurdity  of  the  contention  that  the  Fusion  administration, 
■which  came  into  office  January  1.  1902.  has  any  share  in  whatever  there 
may  be  of  credit  for  the  electrical  operation  of  the  Elevated  R.  R.,  is 
apparent  to  everybody  in  New  York.  This  system  of  electrical  trans- 
portation required  many  months  in  the  work  of  planning,  and  prepara- 
tion before  the  installation  of  the  third  rail,  with  current  conductors 
and  other  appliances,  was  attempted  upon  the  company's  structure  and 
even  the  work  of  this  installation  had  been  long-  in  progress  when 
Mayor  Low  took  office. 

MORE  ABSURDITY. 
Another  example  of  absurd  claims  follows: 

"The  Metropolitan  Street  Railroad  has  made  haste 
under  the  Fusion  administration  to  effect  great  improve- 
ments in  its  equipment,  substituting  electrical  for  horse- 
power on  all  its  cross-town  lines." 

The  number  of  years  of  effort  and  experiment  spent  by  the  City- 
Transit  Companies  to  overcome  the  difficulties  at  the  crossings  of  the, 
uptown  and  cross-town  lines  is  known  to  all  of  the  public.  To  claim 
that  these  difficulties  were  overcome  by  reason  of  any  influence  of  the 
Fusion  administration  upon  the  affairs  of  the  city  is  perfectly  absurd. 
It  might  as  well  be  claimed  that  the  natural  laws  controlling  electricity 
{were  influenced  by  the  fact  that  there  is  a  "Fusion"  Mayor  in  the 
City  Hall.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  solution  of  the  problem  and  the 
beginning  of  the  work,  the  results  of  which  are  now  exploited  as  a 
"Fusion"  triumph,  were  both,  as  in  the  case  of  the  elevated  railroad 
improvement,  of  date  many  months  before  Janury  1,  1902. 


"FUSION'S"  PRETENDED  NON-PARTiSANSHiP. 

Republican  Insistence  That  Only  a  Republican  Can  Run  for 
Mayor  On  the  "Non-Partisan  Platform  in  This 
Democratic  City." 

The  first  conclusive  evidence  of  the  hollowness  of  the  "Fusion"  pre- 
tense to  non-partisanship  is  furnishe/1  by  Mayor  Low  himself.  It  is  in 
evidence  throughout  his  administration  of  the  office  of  Mayor,  a  notable 
instance  being  shown  during  the  State  campaign  last  fall.  The  Mayor 
did  not  hesitate  to  give  the  moral  support  of  his  name  and  of  his  office 
to  the  partisan  candidacy  of  Benjamin  B.  Odell,  Jr.,  as  a  candidate  for 
Governor.  He  presided  at  a  political  demonstration,  one  of  the  most 
important  of  the  campaign  held  in  this  city,  for  the  Governor.  In 
many  other  ways  the  Mayor  was  active  in  aid  and  support  of  the  Re- 
publican State  campaign. 

PARTY  POLITICS  ADMITTED. 
Even  in  his  Own  campaign,  this  fall,  the  Mayor  lias  been  betrayed 
by  the  weakness  of  his  non-partisanship  pretensions  to  a  disclosure  of 
the  real  situation  on  that  question.  In  his  letter  to  Boss  Cutting,  writ- 
ten on  September  4th,  for. the  evident  .purpose  of  forestalling  any  inter- 
ference with  the  Republican  Citizens'  Uruoji  plan  of  renominating  him. 
Mayor  Low  exposed  himself  completely. 


'8 


NEW   TO»RK.  1902-1908. 


NEW.  YORK.  1002-1903. 


90 


Despite  the  usual  flavor  of  Pecksniffianism  which  characterized  the 
communication,  it  is  plainly  evident  that  the  Mayor  could  not  disguise, 
even  to  himself,  the  position  that  he  occupies  in  the  advance  guard  of 
the  Republican  National  Campaign  for  1904.  His  expressions  on  the 
subject  should  be  read  with  careful  analysis.    They  are  as  follows: 

"I  have  found,  in  certain  quarters  that  are  entirely  friendly,  the 
opinion  that  the  present  emergency,  perhaps,  calls  for  the  nomination 
of  an  independent  Democrat  as  the  leader  of  the  Fusion  forces  this 
year. 

"Under  these  circumstances,  I  very  much  prefer  that  the  confer- 
ence should  act  upon  that  view,  and,  in  that  event,  the  candidate  of  the 
conference  will  have  my  hearty  support.  My  single  idea  is  that  the 
conference  shall  recommend  for  nomination  the  person  most  likely  to  be 
elected. 

"In  this  situation  I  recognize  not  only  the  very  natural  feeling  that 
turn  about  is  fair  play,  but  also  the  natural  and  inevitable  result  of  the 
shortening  of  the  Mayor's  term  from  four  years  to  two,  which  brings 
this  municipal  election  in  the  year  preceding  the  National  election. 
This  has  thrown  into  the  coming  city  canvass  the  maximum  amount  of 
party  politics,  and  has  made  it  as  difficult  as  possible  for  this  superb 
city  of  3,750,000  people,  with  business  and  social  interests  of  its  own  far 
greater  in  importance  than  those  of  many  States,  to  elect  its  city  gov- 
ernment, from  the  point  of  view  of  its  own  interests  only,  instead  of  with 
an  eye  to  the  possible  indirect  bearing  of  the  election  upon  State  and 
National  issues." 

THE  PRESIDENT  INTERESTS  HIMSELF. 

President  Roosevelt  comes  next,  perhaps,  in  importance  as  furnish- 
ing evidence  to  refute  the  claim  of  Fusion  non-partisanship.  During 
the  whole  Summer,  while  presiding  at  the  "Summer  Capital"  in  Oyster 
Bay,  and  with  his  daily  movements  photographed  and  described  in  every 
detail  for  the  benefit  of  the  country  at  large,  he  furnished  instance  after 
instance  to  show  where  he  stood.  The  inspired  articles  from  the  Oyster 
Bay  correspondents,  published  in  administration  and  Fusion  organs, 
made  no  secret  of  the  President's  attitude.  He  was  represented  as  being 
determined  to  take  an  active  hand  in  arranging  the  local  ticket  and  in 
seeing  that  Mayor  Low  should  again  be  the  standard  bearer  of  the  so- 
called  "Fusion"  movement.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  let  it  be  understood 
that  he  fully  appreciated  the  importance  of  having  a  Republican  in  the 
Mayor  s  chair  in  New  York  City  in  the  Presidential  campaign. 

PARTISANSHIP  SMIRCHES  PATRIOTISM. 

The  most  significant  and  the  most  characteristic  evidence  of  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt's  willingness  to  appeal  to  partisanship  in  connection  with 
the  Low  campaign  this  fall  is  shown  by  his  remarkable  action  on  New 
Jersey  Day  at  the  battlefield  of  Antietam.  The  President  made  an  ad- 
dress on  the  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  the  monument  to  the  New 
Jersey  soldiers  who  fell  in  that  battle.  In  the  course  of  his  remarks,  he 
took  occasion  to  mention  the  name  of  General  Greene,  one  of  the  officers 
of  the  Federal  forces  in  that  engagement.  General  Greene's  share  in  the 
honors  of  that  glorious  day  was  one  entirely  to  his  credit,  but  not  in 
any  way  such  that  should  make  him  conspicuous  above  the  other  officers 
of  the  same  rank  who  were  engaged.  There  was  certainly  nothing  in  it 
to  suggest  the  singling  out  of  his  name  for^mention,  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  President  Roosevelt  never  once  uttered  the  name  of  Major-General 
George  B.  McClellan,  the  commanding  General  on  that  day. 

Without  going  any  further,  this  incident  would  have  seemed  pe- 
culiar, but  the  President  did  not  stop  here.  His  purpose  in  introducing 
the  name  of  General  Greene  was  made  evident  by  his  explaining  to  his 
hean-rs  that  General  Francis  V.  Greene,  one  of  the  members  of  the  "Fu- 
sion" administration  of  New  York  City,  was  a  son  of  the  officer  of 
whom  he  had  made  such  flattering  mention.  This  plain  indication  of 
willingness  to  mix  the  patriotism'  of  this  interesting  occasion  with  cheap 
partisanship  in  a  reference  to  a  remote  and  unconnected*New  York  City 
matter  is  hardly  consistent  with  the  professions  now  resorted  to,  that 
President  Roosevelt  will  not  interfere  in  the  matter  of  Mayor  Low's 
candidacy  or  canvass. 


90 


NEW   YORK,  1902-1903. 


ODELL'S  PLAIN  DECLARATION. 
Governor  Odell  is,  perhaps,  the  next  most  conspicuous  exhibit  in  the 
array  of  evidence  discrediting  the  Fusion  claim  of  non-partisanship. 
Even  on  the  occasion  of  his  four  weeks'  vacation  tour  to  the  Pacific 
Coast  with  Police  Commissioner  Greene,  Governor  Odell  lost  no  oppor- 
tunity to  declare  himself  in  favor  of  the  renomination  of  Mayor  Low. 
To  the  reporters  in  the  far  West,  whose  papers  and  readers  had  no  pos- 
-sible  interest  in  New  York  City  affairs,  Governor  Odell  gave  this  con- 
stant assurance.  It  was  only  by  his  treatment  of  the  announcement 
that  it  gained  a  general  interest  or  could  be  used  as  news  for  the  read- 
ers of  those  distant  neighborhoods.  Governor  Odell's  words  supplied 
this  general  interest  by  making  the  matter  of  Mayor  Low's  campaign  a 
subject  of  National  importance.  In  a  general  review  of  the  Republican 
situation  in  the  country,  Governor  Odell  felicitated  the  party  on  its 
victories  in  New  York  and  other  States  last  fall,  and  spoke  encourag- 
ingly of  the  outlook  from  his,  standpoint  for  the  future,  leading  directly 
up  to  the  prospects  for  1904.  In  conclusion,  he  gave  the  whole  weight  of 
his  political  and  partisan  judgment  concerning  the  New  York  City  cam- 
paign this  Fall  in  these  words: 

'"Our  next  great  fight  is  for  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New 
York." 

Senator  Thomas  C.  Piatt  takes  an  important  place  in  furnishing  evi- 
dence of  the  strong  and  dominating  Republican  flavor  of  the  so-called 
Fusion  campaign.  He  has  been  insistent  all  Summer  long  in  urging  that 
there  is  no  candidate  in  sight  but  Mayor  Low,  and  he  displayed  scant 
patience  in  considering  or  discussing  the  possibility  that  fairness  to  the 
electorate  of  the  metropolis  would  dictate  the  nomination  of  a  Democrat 
in  National  politics  for  the  standard  bearer  of  what  is  claimed  to  be  a 
non-partisan  business  administration  movement. 

STATE  CHAIRMAN  DUNN  IN  LINE. 

Chairman  Dunn,  of  the  Republican  State  Committee,  from  the  more 
than  suburban  distance  of  Binghamton,  N.  Y.,  testified  to  his  interest 
in  the  political  matters  of  this  city  by  his  repeated  utterances  concern- 
ing the  candidacy  of  Mayor  Low.  In  his  own  words,  he  was  for  Low, 
first,  last  and  all  the  time. 

BRUCE  ADDS  TESTIMONY. 

Chairman  M.  Linn  Bruce,  of  the  Republican  County  Committee,  in 
all  his  utterances,  spoke  in  the  same  strain.  Mr.  Bruce  is  an  up-country 
importation  who  reached  this  city  by  way  of  Greenville,  N.  J.,  where  he 
is  remembered  chiefly  on  account  of  the  sudden  and  peculiar  nature  of 
his  departure.  Mr.  Bruce,  ever  since  becoming  the  Chairman  of  the 
County  Committee— which  position  was  offered  to  him  after  it  had  been 
characterized  as  an  "old  slough  hole"  and  disdainfully  refused  by  many 
good  men,  has  insistently  declared  that  the  nomination  of  Mayor  Low, 
the  Republican,  as  the  non-partisan  candidate  for  Mayor  was  an  abso- 
lute necessitv,  and  that  no  other  man  could  be  considered. 

"ME,  TOO  '— QUIGG. 

Even  little  things  have  their  value  in  deciding  a  question  of  this 
kind,  and  straws  are  sometimes  useful  in  showing  which  way  the  wind 
blows.  Mr.  Quigg  joins  in  the  Republican  assurance  that  Low  is  the 
only  possible  candidate  for  this  non-partisan  eampaign,  and  when  Mr. 
Quigg,  too,  has  spoken  for  the  Republicans,  "they  are  all  in."  Of 
course,  like  his  colleagues  in  the  G.  O.  P.,  Mr.  Quigg's  distinguishing 
characteristic  is  self-abnegation,  party-abnegation  and  supreme  devo- 
tion to  reform  and  non-partisanship. 

THE  "NON-PARTISAN"  HUMBUG. 

The  efforts  of  the  Republicans  to  disclaim  the  fact  that  they  swing 
the  so-called  "Fusion"  party  are  laughable.  President  Roosevelt  leads 
with  an  unofficial  but  apparently  authorized  proclamation  of  non-inter- 
ference in  the  selection  of  the  candidate  for  Mayor.  -  Following  the 
symposiums  at  Oyster  Bay,  with  Low,  Swanstrom,  Coffey,  and  others, 
oveT  the  local  political  situation  and  considered  with  the  avowed  can- 
didacy of  the  President  for  the  1901  nomination  this  is  scarcely  con- 
vincing. 

Quite  amusing,  also,  is  the  effort  of  the  Mayor  to  obscure  and  cause 
to  be  forgotten  the  fact  that  he  presided  at  an  Odell  mass  meeting  in 


KEW   YORK,  1902-1003. 


91 


the  last  campaign  and  gave  much  official  and  personal  aid  and  encour- 
agement to  the  Republican  State  ticket. 

Funniest  of  all,  however,,  is  the  attempt  of  fly  old  Tom 
Piatt  to  make  it  appear  that  the  Republican  machine  has 
not  been  recognized  in  Mayor  Low's  appointments. 

Very  clever  and  characteristic  was  the  way  the  senior  Senator  cried! 
"I  didn't  get  anything  out  of  Fusion,  either,  except  that  little  Judgeship 
that  went  to  Julius  M.  Mayer." 

Even  that  "Fusion"  organ,  the  Times,  cannot  stomach  this  phase  of 
the  humbug.  On  August  4,  1903,  it  published  the  following  list,  which 
sfcows  only  part  of  the  patronage  enjoyed  by  Piatt's  people: 


POLICE  DEPARTMENT. 

Gen.  Francis  V.  Greene,  Commissioner   $7,500 

Frederick  H.  E.  Ebstein,  First  Deputy   4.000 

Gherardi  Davis,  Third  Deputy   4,000 

DOCK  DEPARTMENT. 

McDougall  Hawkes,  Commissioner   $6,000 

Jackson  Wallace,  Deputy  Commissioner   4,500 

Edward  Sitterly,  Secretary  to  Commission   2,000 

Russell  Bleecker,  Department  Secretary   4,000 

FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 

Thomas  Sturgis,  Commissioner   $7,500 

William  Leary,  Department  Secretary   4,800 

Richard  H.  Laimbeer,  Jr.,   Deputy  Commissioner  for 

Brooklyn  and  Queens   5,000 

John  J.  Slater,  Secretary   2,000 

DEPARTMENT   OF  PUBLIC  CHARITIES. 

Homer  Folks,  Commissioner   $7,500 

James  Edward  Dougherty,  Deputy  Commissioner   5,000 

TENEMENT  HOUSE  DEPARTMENT. 

Robert  W.  De  Forest,  Commissioner   $7,500 

DEPARTMENT  OF  TAXES  AND  ASSESSMENTS.. 

James  L.  Wells,  President   $8,000 

Samuel  Strasbourger,  Commissioner   7,000 

BOARD  OF  ASSESSORS. 

Benjamin  E.  Hall,  Assessor   $3,000 

Henry  B.  Ketcham.  Assessor   3,000 

PARK  DEPARTMENT. 

William  R.  Willcox,  President   $5,000 

John  E.  Eustis,  Commissioner   5,000 

George  S.  Terry,  Secretary   4,800 

BOARD  OF  ELECTIONS. 

Rudolph  C.  Fuller,  Commissioners   $5,000 

Charles  B.  Page,  Secretary   5,000 

MUNICIPAL  CIVIL  SERVICE  COMMISSION. 

Willis  L.  Ogden,  President   $6,000 

CORPORATION  COUNSEL'S  OFFICE. 

John  C.  Clark,  Assistant   £6,000 

Charles  S.  Whitman,  Assistant   6,000 

John  W.  Hutchinson,  Assistant   5,000 

EXAMINING  BOARD  OF  PLUMBERS. 

William  Montgomery,  Examiner   $1,300 

COURT  OF  SPECIAL  SESSIONS. 

Julius  M.  Mayer,  Justice   $9,000 

CITY  MAGISTRATES. 

Joseph  M.  Deuel,  Magistrate   $7,000 

Leroy  B.  Crane,  Magistrate   7,000 

Alfred  E.  Ommen,  Magistrate   7,000 

Seward  Baker,  Magistrate   7,000 


92 


NEW   YOP.K,  1902-1903. 


CIVIL  COURT  JUSTICES. 

William  S.  Bennett,  Justice   $6,000 

Julius  G.  Kremer,  Justice  ,   6,000 

General  Greene,  the  Police  Commissioner,  has  been  chairman  of  the 
Republican  County  Committee;  his  Third  Deputy,  Gherardi  Davis,  has 
been  an  Assemblyman;  Dock  Commissioner  McDougall  Hawkes  has  been 
the  Republican  leader  of  the  Twenty-fifth  Assembly  District;  Richard 
Laimbeer,  Deputy  Fire  Commissioner  for  Brooklyn  and  Queens,  has 
been  a  Republican  Assemblyman;  Tax  Commissioner  Strasbourger  is  the 
Republican  leader  in  the  Thirty-first  District;  William  R.  Willcox,  Park 
Commissioner,  ran  for  Congress  on  the  Republican  ticket,  and  was 
beaten;  Charles  B.  Page,  of  the  Bureau  of  Elections,  was  a  Republican 
State  Senator,  and  many  others  have  been  prominent  in  the  ranks  or*  the 
organization. 


POST  OFFICE  SCANDAL 


One  Phase  of  the  Record  of  the  Republican  Party,  Seeking  in 
"Fusion"  Guise  to  "Reform"  Our  City. 

An  endless  chain  of  looting,  grafting,  shake-downs,  bribery,  and 
every  form  of  corruption,  large  or  small  in  its  scope,  has  smirched  the 
Post  Office  Department  of  the  United  States. 

It  would  be  well-nigh  impossible  for  the  human  mind  to  conceive 
any  new  channel  through  which  graft  could  be "  obtained.  Chaotic  is 
the  only  word  which  approximately  describes  the  present  status,  but  the 
main  trend  of  the  conspiracy  of  graft  is  known  to  have  been  an  effort 
to  perpetuate  the  Republican  power  through  the  free  rural  delivery 
system  and  its  $12,000,000  appropriation;  at  the  same  time  that  individ- 
uals were  raking  in  their  own  reward  by  consistent  thievery. 

The  department  in  every  section  was  honeycombed  with  rottenness, 
and  the  individual  grafting  revealed  a  devilish  ingenuity. 

Contract  looting,  exorbitant  prices,  bribery  for  office 
holding,  increased  salaries,  promotion  selling,  sinecures, 
conspiracy,  collusion,  illegal   methods  and  trickery  per- 
meated the  service. 
The  oath  of  office  became  a  dead  letter,  and  the  neglect  of  honest 
officials  to  denounce  the  practices  amounted  to  cowardly  political  con- 
nivance. 

Briefly,  the  sources  of  the  graft  were: 

Post  office  boxes,  canceling  machines,  registry  time  clocks,  wagons, 
mail  bags,  twine,  wrapping  paper,  pens,  pen-holders,  rubber  stamps, 
stationery,  automatic  registers,  coal  contracts,  patent  mail  bag  fasten- 
ers, sheet  iron  mail  boxes,  patent  change-making  machines,  package 
boxes,  postal  locks  and  devices,  the  bonding  of  office  holders,  the  forcing 
of  employees  to  purchase  worthless  mining  stock,  excessive  rentals  for 
branch  post  offices,  bribery  by  get-rich-quick  concerns  for  protection, 
selling  of  influence  to  get  favorable  opinions  from  the  law  department, 
and  even  a  share  of  plunder  from  the  sale  by  the  Agricultural  Depart- 
ment of  inferior  seeds  at  light  weight 

Fourth  Assistant  Postmaster  Bristow  found  that  there  had  been 
reckless  extravagance,  collusion,  on  contracts,  sale  of  promotions,  and 
innumerable  infractions  of  the  rules  of  the  department.  He  alleges  that 
chiefs  of  divisions  borrowed  money  from  subordinates;  that  the  latter 
acted  without  regard  for  their  superiors,  and  that  there  was  drunken- 
ness, immorality,  petty  stealing,  total  repudiation  of  civil  service,  and  a 
network  of  scandal. 

The  free  rural  service  was  geographically  arranged  so  that  it  would 
benefit  Republicans  alone.  The  official  reports  show  that  four  States- 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa  and  Ohio  had  on  October  15,  1902,  more  than 
one-third  of  all  the  rural  delivery  routes  in  the  United  States.  These 
States,  represented  in  Congress  by  the  strongest  men  in  the  Republican 
party,  were  allotted  3,792  rural  delivery  routes,  out  of  a  total  of  11,199. 


NEW   YORK,    1902-1 90S. 


03 


The  deficiency  In  the  Post  Office  Department,  according  to  Auditor 
Castle,  on  July  1,  was  $4,617,203,  as  compared  with  $2,961,170  last  year. 
This  was  attributed  to  the  management  of  the  rural  delivery  routes  by 
Superintendent  August  W.  Machen,  who  is  under  specific  indictment  for 
accepting  bribes  from  Groff  Brothers,  also  under  arrest,  for  awarding 
them  the  contract  for  a  patent  letter  box  fastener,  for  which  Machen 
got  $20,000.  It  is  futher  averred  that  in  all  Machen  received  from  the 
firm  $70,000. 

The  charge  that  stores  for  branch  post  offices  in  Manhattan  and 
the  Bronx  were  leased  for  $223,900  a  year,  but  which  were  only  worth 
$148,550,  was  also  made. 

The  syndicate  for  the  promotion  of  officials  charged 
$25  to  $50,  and  a  monthly  percentage  on  salaries.  On 
March  20,  1903,  as  many  as  1,716  of  these  promotions  were 
made  in  the  New  York  post  office. 
August  W.  Machen,  Superintendent  of  Rural  Delivery,  and  George 
"W.  Beavers,  Chief  of  the  Division  of  Salaries  and  Allowances,  both 
indicted  on  man>   counts  are,  so  far  as  is  yet  known,  the  mediums 
through  which  the  graft  system  was  worked.    Their  power  was  so 
great  that  they  induced  Congress  to  increase  their  salaries  independently 
of  any  superior  officer.    Beavers  also  drew  a  salary  from  the  Postal 
Clerks'  Union. 

So  far,  nearly  forty  persons  in  all  sections  of  the  country  have  been 
indicted  and  arrested  for  complicity  in  the  frauds.  Among  the  most 
prominent  of  these  are  State  Senator  George  E.  Green,  president  of  the 
International  Time  Recording  Company  and  the  Doremus  Canceling 
Machine  Company,  both  of  which  supplied  the  department  with  goods; 
Isaac  S.  McGrehan  and  G.  H.  Huntington,  charged  with  conspiracy  and 
bribery  in  the  sale  of  package  boxes;  George  and  Martha  Lorenz  and 
officials  of  the  Postal  Lock  and  Device  Company,  for  paying  A.  W. 
Machen  a  bribe  of  $7,000;  Former  Congressman  E.  BT.  Driggs,  for  having 
while  a  member  of  Congress  secured  the  passage  of  a  contract  whereby 
the  government  paid  $150  each  for  "automatic  cashiers,"  that  cost  $15 
to  make,  and  which  proved  worthless;  George  F.  Miller,  agent  of  the 
Brandt-Dent  Company,  indicted  in  the  same  connection;  Joseph  M. 
Johns  and  Daniel  V.  Miller  for  conspiracy  in  protecting  get-rich-quick 
swindling  concerns,  and  accepting  a  bribe  of  $4,500;  Thomas  McGregor 
and  C.  Ellsworth  Upton,  clerks  under  Machen,  for  taking  a  bribe  of 
$8,000  for  a  mail  pouch  contract. 

Owners  of  apartment  houses  and  hotels  complained  that  they  could 
not  get  mail  boxes  unless  they  purchased  mail  chutes  in  which  officials 
were  interested,  at  a  cost  of  $1,800  each. 

President  Proctor,  of  the  Civil  Service  Commission,  charged  that 
persons  were  appointed  to  the  Rural  Delivery  Department  and  then 
transferred  to  the  classified  list  without  examination. 

The  bonding  of  15,000  clerks  has  been  diverted  to  the  Fidelity  Title 
and  Deposit  Company,  of  Maryland,  of  which  United  States  Senator 
Piatt's  sons  are  principal  officials. 

The  story  is  one  long  dream  of  graft  and  loot. 


Seth  Low,  he  has  got  a  fine  yacht, 
Of  money  he's  got  a  big  pot, 

But  the  people  don't  care 

To  have  him  for  a  Mayor, 
And  it's  dollars  to  doughnuts  they'll  not. 

There  is  an  old  woman  called  Low, 
Whose  pockets  run  over  with  dough; 
She  wants  to  be  Mayor, 
But  we're  going  to  take  care 
That  she  hasn't  a  ghost  of  a  show. 


Vote  for  Honest  Democratic  City  Government  in  touch  with  the 
wants  of  the  people. 


Vote  against  Republicanism  masked  as  non-partisanship. 


94 


NEW   YORK,  1902—1903. 


LITTAUER'S  GLOVE  CONTRACTS. 


Graft  Enjoyed  by  Friend  of  the  President  and  the  Governor — 
•  The  Timber  of  Which  "Fusion"  Reformers  Are  Made. 

Congressman  Lucius  Nathan  Littauer,  whom  President  Roosevelt 
has  said  is  his  most  intimate  personal  friend,  and  who  is  a  stanch  politi- 
cal adherent  of  Governor  Odell  and  General  Asphalt  Greene,  has  been 
the  storm  centre  of  charges  of  graft  for  some  months.  Papers  and 
reports  describing  his  connection  with  a  series  of  army  glove  contracts 
amounting  to  $200,000  a  year,  are  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Attorney- 
General  of  the  United  States,  whose  opinion  has  been  asked  as  to 
whether  Littauer  violated  his  oath  of  office  or  the  law  in  participating 
in  the  profits  of  the  contracts. 

Edmund  R.  Lyon,  who  formerly  conducted  a  glove  factory,  with  offices 
at  No.  258  Fifth  avenue,  New  York,  filed  a  petition  in  bankruptcy  in 
April,  1902,  ,and  asked  for  his  discharge  on  June  30,  1903.  His  liabilities 
were  stated  to  be  $30,000,  with  no  assets. 

Littauer  Brothers,  of  Gloversville,  N.  Y.,  a  firm  consisting  of  L.  N. 
Littauer.  William  Littauer,  and  their  brother-in-law,  Oscar  L.  Richards, 
protested  against  a  discharge,  and  in  the  course  of  his  examination,  Lyon 
retaliated  by  exposing  his  relations  with  the  Congressman  and  his 
firm. 

In  his  testimony  Lyon  swore  that  in  connection  with  Littauer  Brothers 
he  had  from  1897  to  1900,  during  the  entire  time  of  the  Spanish-American 
War.  filled  contracts  with  the  Assistant  Quartermasters'  Department  of 
the  U.  S.  Army  and  the  U.  S.  Marine  Corps.  They  had  supplied  buck- 
skin gauntlets,  muskrat  gloves,  muskrat  caps,  cotton  duck,  pajamas, 
flannel,  and  dress  caps. 

"Littauer  Brothers  were  in  with  me  on  the  muskrat  gauntlets  and 
the  muskrat  caps,"  said  Lyon. 

He  explained  that  the  Littauers  furnished  the  buckskin  gauntlets,  . 
the  muskrat  gauntlets,  and  the  glove  parts. 

Documents,   letters  and  written  and  oral  evidence, 
some  in  Congressman  Littauer's  own  handwriting,  were 
produced  to  prove  that  the  latter  had  attended  to  the 
getting  of  the  contracts,  used  his  influence  in  every  way, 
and  had  received  a  share  of  the  profits. 
Lyon  said  he  had  filled  government  contracts  amounting  to  half  ■ 
million   dollars,   and   that  Littauer's   profit   had   amounted   to  about 
$90,000. 

As  any  violation  of  the  law  renders  a  contract  with  the  government 
void  Lyon  and  his  bondsmen  can  be  sued  for  all  the  money  paid  on  the 

contracts. 

LITTAUER'S  PARTNERSHIP  PROFITABLE. 

The  four  contracts  offered  in  evidence,  showing  that  William  Littauer, 
brother  of  L.  N.,  and  his  brother-in-law,  Oscar  L.  Richards,  had  been 
bondsmen  for  Lyon,  contained  this  stipulation: 

"That  no  member  of  or  delegate  to  Congress,  or  any  person  belong- 
ing to  or  employed  in  the  military  service  of  the  United  States,  is  or 
shall  be  admitted  to  any  share  or  part  of  this  contract  or  to  any  benefit 
which  may  arise  therefrom." 

"We  have  introduced  in  evidence."  said  A.  H.  Gleason.  counsel  for 
Edmond  R.  Lyon,  "books  showing  that  so  long  as  the  connection  with 
Littauer  Brothers  was  maintained,  Mr.  Lyon  did  a  business  of  about 
$200,000  a  year. 

"Thf  moment  that  connection  ceased  his  volume  of  business  dwindled 
to  $6,000  a  year,  and  he  was  not  even  able  to  employ  a  bookkeeper." 


NEW   YORK,  1902-1003. 


95 


Mr.  Littauer  denied  that  his  firm  had  any  interest  in  the  Lyon  con- 
tracts, but  a  letter  in  the  Congressman's  own  handwriting  was  offered 
to  contradict  this.  It  was  written  on  the  paper  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives' Committee  on  Manufactures  and  dated  January  25,  1900.  It 
contained  a  detailed  statement  of  account  between  Littauer  Brothers 
and  Lyon  and  said,  concerning  the  balance: 

"Of  which  your  share  of  one-half  equals  $1,768.52,"  and  "profits  as 
above  $1,768.52." 

Another  letter  from  Mr.  Littauer  to  Lyon,  dated  May  18,  1898,  said: 

"By  to-morrow  or  Friday  night  the  1,000  pair  special  contract  will 
be  delivered,  and  the  577  paid  will  be  delivered  by  Monday  night." 

There  was  plenty  of  other  evidence  to  show  that  Lyon  and  Littauer 
had  profited  jointly  by  Lyon's  contracts. 

SECRETARY  ROOT  AS  A  WHITEWASHER. 

On  July  7,  Secretary  of  War  Root  issued  an  order  to  the  Adjutant- 
General  directing  that  an  investigation  be  made  into  the  charges  made 
by  Lyon  in  his  bankruptcy  examination,  to  ascertain  whether  the  law 
had  been  violated. 

Colonel  Garlington,  of  the  Inspector  General's  Department,  was 
detailed  to  make  the  investigation,  and  filed  his  report  at  the  War 
Department  on  July  29,  1903.  He  exonerated  all  officials  who  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  the  making  of  the  contract  and  found  that  Mr.  Littauer 
was  guiltless  of  wrongdoing. 

Secretary  Root  announced  that  there  appeared  to  be  no  evidence 
that  there  was  any  violation  of  the  statute  except  in  one  case — the 
contract  of  December  7,  1898.  There  were  many  consultations  with  the 
President  upon  the  subject,  and  the  papers  were  sent  to  the  Attorney- 
General,  but  nothing  further  was  done  in  the  matter. 

President  Roosevelt  said  on  February  20,  1900: 

"1  want  to  tell  you  that  it  is  a  Harvard  man  who  is 
my  most  intimate  personal  friend  and  who  is  also  my 
closest  political  adviser — and  that  man  is  Lucius  Nathan 
Littauer." 

Congressman  Littauer,  who  represents  the  Twenty-second  District 
of  New  York,  has  served  in  the  55th,  56th,  57th  and  58th  Congresses, 
and  has  always  been  a  welcome  guest  at  the  White  House,  and  was 
often  consulted  by  the  President.  Mr.  Littauer  stands  very  high  in  the 
councils  of  the  Republican  Fusion  party,  and  he  has  always  been  held 
up  as  a  model  of  what  a  Reformer  in  public  life  should  be.  The  people  of 
the  City  of  New  York  can  judge  for  themselves  of  the  possibilities  of 
"Reform"  in  a  "Fusion"  municipal  government  by  the  political  and 
personal  friends  of  Congressman  Littauer.  They  are  the  sponsors  and 
supporters  of  Republican  Candidate  Low. 


LOW  AND  ROOSEVELT. 

From  his  office  all  so  snug, 

And  his  thousand-dollar  rug; 
In  an  auto  and  a  yacht  that  beat  creation; 

Mayor  Low  he  went  one  day, 

Where  Roosevelt  at  Oyster  Bay, 
Made  a  toy  of  the  Navy  of  the  Nation. 

Teddy's  scheme  and  plan 

To  make  New  York  Republican, 
'Spite  of  gloves,  P.  O.,  graft  and  things  provoking; 

Was  the  theme  of  which  they  talked, 
'   But  the  "Fusion"  steed  has  balked, 
And  now  they're  not  in  any  mood  for  joking. 


Vote  for  Honest  Democratic  City  Government  in  touch  with  the 
wants  of  the  people. 


Honest  Democracy,  purged  of  Deveryism,  welcomes  the  return  of 
her  worthy  sons. 


96 


NEW    YORK,  1902-1903; 


THE  REPUBLICAN  STATE  MACHINE. 


Some  Reflections  Upon  Its  Membership  and  Injustices  to  the 
City  of  New  York,  Together  with  Special  Observations 
Concerning  Gov.  Benjamin  B.  Odell,  Jr.,  Its 
Would-be  Boss. 
tl 

For  ten  years  the  cities  of  this  State  have  groaned  under  the  oppres- 
sions of  the  Republican  State  machine.  The  territory  of  Greater  New 
York  has  from  its  very  richness  been  the  special  prey  of  this  political 
organization  so  suggestive  of  the  banditti  who  swoop  down  on  the 
Italian  towns.  At  its  retreat  in  the  Albany  Capitol  its  leaders  have 
planned  their  attacks  and  laid  upon  our  citizens  staggering  burdens 
of  taxation.  They  have  compelled  us  to  stand  and  deliver,  and  having 
appropriated  our  purse  have  divided  it  among  themselves  and  their 
followers  in  the  rural  districts  up  the  State.  They  have  whetted  the 
appetite  of  the  farmer  for  a  reduced  tax-rate  and  despoiled  the  dwellers 
of  the  great  city  to  satisfy  his  hunger.    They  have  done  more. 

They  have  banned  our  personal  liberties,  prescribing 
what  we  shall  eat  and  drink,  the  raiment  we  shall  wear, 
even  how  we  shall  shave,  pull  and  plug  our  teeth  and  em- 
balm our  dead. 

There  seems  to  be  no  limit  to  their  ingenuity  and  audacity  and  no 
thought  of  the  day  of  reckoning  which  is  bound  to  come. 

They  are  a  hybrid  crew,  the  leaders  of  this  Republican  machine, 
foregathered  for  public  plunder  and  personal  gain — the  crafty  Piatt,  the 
sinister  Odell,  the  marauder  Raines,  Malby  and  Aldridge,  the  light- 
fingered;  Jotham  Allds,  the  addle-pated;  Quigg,  the  speckled,  with  their 
retinues  of  mercenaries,  among  them  petty  pilferers  of  local  treasuries, 
robbers  of  the  great  State  chest  on  Capitol  Hill,  burrowers  for  public 
contracts,  and  Buddenseiks  always  in  the  performance  of  the  same. 
Every  morning  for  four  months  in  the  year  this  Republican  machine 
opens  with  prayer  its  deliberations  in  the  State  Capitol,  and  every  night 
the  sun  goes  down  on  some  newly  hatched  scheme  for  the  discomfiture  of 
our  great  city.  Truly,  a  combination  of  Puritan  and  blackleg  sufficient, 
to  make  the  most  stolid  Knickerbocker  shiver. 

•      *  • 

ODELL  WORSE  THAN  PLATT. 
II. 

Chi<-f  of  these  figures  now  in  the  public  eye,  and  insanely  ambitious 
to  seize  I  he  staff  when  Piatt  shall  have  set  it  down  is  Gov.  Benjamin 
B.  Odell,  Jr. 

Bad  as  the  Republican  machine  has  been  under  the 
leadership  of  Piatt,  infinitely  worse  it  must  be  if  Odell's 
aspirations  are  gratified  and  he  acquires  the  complete  con- 
trol, as  he  has  long  been  secretly  planning. 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  he  already  pictures  himself  the  chief  of  a 
band  that  will  rival  Quay's,  and  dreams  of  a  Republican  citadel  here- 
abouts as  strong  as  Philadelphia.  To  accomplish  these  ends  he  has 
sought  by  every  means  in  his  power  during  the  last  three  years  to 
strengthen  his  personal  hold  upon  the  Machine.  He  has  not  been  at  all 
times  successful,  for  Piatt  has  kept  an  eye  upon  his  methods,  and 
here  and  there  has  blocked  his  personal  game.  Odell  has  man- 
aged, however,  to  establish  a  modus  vivendi  with  our  "unlovable" 
Mayor  Low,  the  consequences  of  which  the  Democrats  of  this  city  and 
State  will  be  realized  speedily  and  sorrowfully  if  the  Republican-Fusion 


NEW   YORK,  1902-1003. 


f<7 


•ticket  should  happen  to  be  elected  this  Fall.  The  popular  distrust  of 
Odell  in  this  vicinity  was  extraordinarily  manifested  when  he  ran  for 
Governor  last  year.  Another  similar  demonstration  in  the  Mayoralty 
contest  this  year  will  emphasize  the  hostility  of  the  city  toward  Odell, 
the  Affiliated  Good  and  the  Republican  State  Machine,  and  pave  the 
way  for  the  disappearance  of  them  all  from  public  life. 

*  *  • 

III. 

A  glance  at  the  career  of  this  would-be  Boss  shows  much  that  can 
liot  be  commended  to  the  emulation  of  the  Knickerbocker  youth.  Indeed, 
there  is  much  in  it  deserving  of  honest  condemnation  by  both  Repub- 
licans and  Democrats.  Odell's  has  been  "a  commercial  life"  chiefly 
devoted  to  "the  ice  and  electric  lighting  interests  of  Newburg,"  so 
runs  his  brief  biography  in  the  directories  of  the  Fifty-fourth  and  Fifty- 
fifth  Congresses.  To  these  interests  this  Chevalier  of  Industry  has 
since  added  others,  notably  in  the  steamboat,  electric  railway  and  gro- 
cery business,  so  that  when  he  became  Governor  in  1900  he  was  for  an 
jp-State,  citizen  a  tolerably  rich  man. 

BOSS  ODELL'S  BEGINNING. 

The  man  who  wants  franchises  for  lighting  or  laying  rails  or  who 
seeks  to  "cut  short  corners"  on  the  public  has  always  seemed  to  accom- 
plish his  desires  more  readily  in  Newburg  and  other  interior  cities  by 
mixing  in  local  politics.  The  Junior  Odell  quite  early  in  his  career  noted 
this  fact  and  aspired  to  be  the  Republican  Boss  of  his  city,  county 
and  Congressional  district.  The  Dickey  boys,  Captain  Joe,  now  a  State 
Railroad  Commissioner,  and  Colonel  William,  now  on  the  Supreme 
bench,  were  practically  in  control  of  the  local  machine,  and  young  Odell 
made  poor  headway  in  butting  in.  Battle  after  battle  was  fought 
between  them,  and  not  until  these  veterans  were  good  and  ready  to  lay 
their  armor  down  did  Odell  succeed  them  as  a  political,  force.  It  was 
during  this  period  that  Odell  laid  the  foundation  for  nis  subsequent 
reputation  as  an  Albany  lobbyist.  There  was  a  considerable  African 
vote  in  Newburg  in  those  days,  and  any  old  Newburger  can  repeat  the 
stories  of  how  "Ben  bought  the  'niggers'  and  rounded  them  up  in  his 
caucuses  and  at  the  general  elections." 

*  *  * 

IV.  i 
Such  a  strenuous  politician  was  clearly  of  use  to  Piatt's  State 
Machine,  and  in  the  nineties  he  was  called  up  higher  and  made  chair- 
man of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Republican  State  Committee, 
a  position  in  which  his  commercial  instincts  had  full  play.  He  knew 
the  corporations  which  would  willingly  be  assessed  for  the  Republican 
State  Machine  and  the  methods  best  calculated  to  bring  the  unwilling 
ones  into  line.  The  Republican  Legislature  was  the  whip  with  which 
he  chastised  the  recreants  and  the  instrument  with  which  he  rewarded 
the  incorporated  friends  of  the  Machine,  and  every  Winter  he  was  to 
be  found  at  Albany  promoting  and  preventing  legislation.  He  made  his 
headquarters  in  the  room  of  the  Lieutenant  Governor  on  the  Senate 
side  and  in  those  of  the  Speaker  on  the  Assembly  side,  and  there  he 
kept  a  critical  eye  on  the  movements  of  the  law-makers,  cajoling  them 
or  threatening  their  political  lives,  according  to  the  conditions  con- 
fronting pending  legislation.  If  kisses  and  kicks  were  insufficient,  and 
money  had  to  be  used,  Odell  was  wise  and  skilful,  knowing  there  was 
no  less  weakness  in  some  Caucasians  than  in  the  Ethiopian  when  it 
came  down  to  a  question  of  selling  his  vote. 

*  *  * 

V. 

ODELL  THE  LOBBYIST. 
Those  were  the  days  referred  to  by  former  State  Senator  John 
Ford,  the  reputed  father  of  the  Special  Franchise  Tax  Law,  when  he 
told  the  City  Club  last  Winter  of  the  part  played  by  Odell  at  the  time 
the  measure  was  introduced  in  the  Legislature.    Said  the  Senator: 
"Roosevelt  was  then  Governor  and  Benjamin  B.  Odell, 
Jr.,    was    a    plain,    every-day  trafficker  in  legislation,  .a 
hanger-on  in  the  lobbies  at  Albany.   Ha  was  the  man  to 


NEW   YORK,  1902-1903. 


seen  then  if  you  wanted  any  legislation,  and  equally  the 
man  to  be  seen  if  you  wanted  to  stop  any.  It  was  then  a 
recognized  fact  that  Benjamin  B.  Odell,  Jr.,  was  the  dis- 
penser of  legislation  at  Albany,  in  the  name  of  and  by  and 
for  the  Republican  State  Machine. 

"I  remember  his  calling  me  aside,  one  day,  and  say- 
ing: 'You  can't  pretend  to  belong  to  the  Republican  or- 
ganization  of  this  State  and  expect  to  have  a  bill  like  this 
franchise  tax  bill  passed  without  first  submitting  it  to  Sen- 
ator Piatt  and  getting  his  O.  K.  on  it.' 

"'And  besides  I  want  you,  Mr.  Ford,  to  understand 
that  I  myself  am  interested  in  franchises.'  n 
The  Senator  ignored  Odell's  intimation  that  he  had  better  "pull  out,** 
and,  of  course,  there  was  a  subsequent  coolness  between  them,  and  the 
Republican  State  Machine  saw  to  it  later  that  the  Senator's  political 
candle  was  snuffed  out. 

Four  years  later,  Mr.  Odell,  no  longer  a  "hanger-on  m  the  lobbies** 
and  "a  plain,  every-day  trafficker  in  legislation,"  but  the  Governor  of 
the  State,  in  his  annual  message  to  the  Legislature  urged  the  repeal  of 
this  special  franchise  tax  law  because  it  was  "vexatious"  and  a  source 
of  great  annoyance,  alike  to  the  tax  gatherer  and  the  corporations  as- 
sessed. It  only  remains  to  say  that  the  Court  of  Appeals  has  confirmed 
the  constitutionality  of  this  "vexatious"  measure,  and  the  public  may 
expect  ulitmately  to  receive  some  millions  of  dollars  in  taxes  from  the 
corporations  which  have  been  so  sadly  annoyed. 

*  *  * 

ODELL  THE   COMMERCIAL  GOVERNOR. 
VI. 

Exit  now,  Odell  the  citizen.  Enter  Odell,  the  Governor  of  the 
Empire  State.. 

It  has  always  been  the  saying  of  slick  Republican  politicians  up-the- 
State  who  have  become  discredited  for  some  roguery,  either  at  Albany 
or  at  home,  that  the  proper  time  to  seek  "vindication"  is  at  a  Presi- 
dential election.  As  such  a  time  they  are  lost  sight  of  in  the  greater 
issues  involved,  and  they  come  back  into  office  on  the  strongly  rushing 
tide.  On  the  crest  of  the  big  waves  of  1900,  then,  perched  this  "trafficker 
in,  legislation,"  and  was  flung  into  the  Executive  Chamber  by  a 
plurality  of  something  like  112,000  votes.  To  the  galleries  filled  with  the 
Truly  Good  he  now  addressed  himself  with  such  success  as  to  win  the 
favorable  opinion  of  those  eminent  expounders  of  civic  faith  and  politi- 
cal righteousness,  the  Evening  Post  and  the  New  York  Times,  without 
whose  commendation  life  is  dross  alike  to  the  uninitiated  in  public 
affairs  and  to  the  hardened,  who,  like  our  Governor  at  that  time,  think 
they  are  seriously  trying  to  lead  a  reformed  life.  The  New  York  SUN 
be  it  remarked,  was  never  fooled  about  this  moral  up-lift  of  Odell,  and 
was  never,  unlike  its  illustrious  contemporaries,  compelled  to  reverse 
itself  in  its  judgments  of  the  man.  Wherefore,  the  sayings  of  the  SUN 
as  a  stalwart  Republican  newspaper  are  mighty  illuminating,  not  to  say 
critical,  and  therefore  all  'the  more  valuable,  in  any  attempt  to  portray 
the  relations  of  this  would-be  Boss  to   a  Republican  State  Machine. 

*  *  * 

*  VII. 

The  Governor  mortified  the  flesh  and  in  the  society  of 
his  new  admirers  was  good  for  about  a  month  after  he 
took  office.  Then  he  emerged  from  his  joyless  surround- 
ings and  proceeded  to  do  some  things  which  immediately 
attracted  attention. 

Il<«  has  boon  doing  them  ever  since,  and  their  ultimate  purpose  has 
been,  almost  without  exception,  the  establishment  of  himself  as  the  sole 
Ross  of  tho  Republican  State  Machine.  He  disguised  bis  real  purpose, 
however,  behind  Economy  and  a  Reduced  Tax  Rate,  and  boldly  began  to 
centralize  and  bring  under  his  own  control  the  powers  of  the  State  insti- 
tutions established  for  the  insane,  the  poor  and  (he  sick.  In  the  hands 
€>f  men  loyal  to  himself  the  hundreds  of.  employees  and  the  hundreds  of 


NEW   YORK,  1002—1903. 


99 


thousands  of  dollars  annually  expended  for  supplies  and  medicines 
would  prove  powerful  instrumentalities  in  the  up-building  of  a  new 
Boss  for  the  Republican  State  Machine. 

ODELL  GRABS  STATE  CHARITIES. 
The  abolition  of  the  Boards  of  Managers  of  the  State  hospitals 
for  the  insane  was  first  decided  upon,  and  in  spite  of  the  protests  of 
publicists  and  of  the  friends  of  these  institutions  he  "jammed"  through 
the  Legislature  a  bill  whicn  vested  their  management  in  the  State  Com- 
mission in  Lunacy.  The  Manhattan  Hospital  and  the  Long  Island 
Hospital,  both  in  New  York,  and  nine  others  up  the  State  were  thus 
"centralized"  with  their  24,000  unfortunate  inmates. 

*  *  * 

VIII. 

Abram  S.  Hewitt  voiced  the  general  disapproval  of  Governor  Odell's 
course  regarding  the  insane  hospital  in  his  open  letter  to  the  Governor, 
saying: 

"Apparently  you  have  overlooked  considerations  of  a 
humanitarian  nature,  which  are  far  more  important  than 
economy  in  the  public  expenditures,  however  desirable  this 
may  be. 

*  *  * 

ODELL  IN  A  DANGEROUS  GAME. 
IX. 

The  New  York  TIMES,  which  had  now  adjusted  its  glasses  and  ob- 
tained a  proper  perspective,  had  this  to  say  of  the  Governor  and  the 
political  scheme  embodied  in  his  lunacy  hospital  measure: 

"Mr.  Odell  ought  to  know  by  this  time  that  a  very  large 
number  of  the  best  citizens  in  all  parts  of  the  State  have 
reluctantly  been  forced  to  conclude  that  his  plans  are  neither 
wise  nor  pressed  in  good  faith.  The  saving  he  professes  to 
seek  he  will  get,  if  at  all,  at  the  cost  of  efficiency  in  a  most 
important  branch  of  the  State  service,  and  he  will  get  it  at 
the  far  greater  cost  of  injecting  partisan  politics  into  that 
service.  It  is  a  shrewd  notion  to  cloak  the  patronage  with 
the  profession  of  economy,  but  there  are  too  many  intelligent 
and  zealous  citizens,  thoroughly  informed  as  to  the  facts,  to 
permit  such  a  notion  being  generally  accepted.  We  fear  that 
the  Governor  is  playing  a  dangerous  game — dangerous  for  the 
State  if  it  succeed  and  dangerous  for  him  in  any  case.  He  is 
incurring  a  grave  risk  in  stretching  out  the  strong  hand  of 
the  party  leader  to  grasp  as  patronage  the  disposal  of  offices 
that  should  be  kept,  as  they  now  are,  free  from  politics.  The 
better  opinion  of  the  State  will  not  brook  that.  We  hardly 
think  that  he  has  weighed  the  final  effect  of  his  policy.  It 
would  be  well  for  him  to  do  so  before  it  is  too  late." 

*  *  * 

X. 

The  Governor's  next  move  was  upon  the  salaried  employees  of  the 
State  Charitable  Institutions  by  the  passage  of  a  bill  to  "regulate" 
annually  just  prior  to  election  the  salaries  of  the  thousand  odd  employees 
of  those  institutions.  This  was  more  centralization  with  the  ultimate 
purpose  of  stimulating  campaign  assessments  by  these  employees.  To 
the  Fiscal  Supervisor  of  the  State,  an  officer  already  appointed  to 
supervise  the  purchases  of  supplies,  and  payments  for  the  same,  to  the 
institutions,  was  delegated  this  new  power.  Of  this  gentleman  named 
Bender,  who  was  one  of  the  products  of  Albany  County's  peculiar  Re- 
publican politics,  the  SUN  has  had  this  to  say: 

"Column  after  column  could  be  written  about  Bender  and 
his  connection  with  Governor  Odell  in  the  management  of  the 
charities  institutions  of  the  State  of  New  York  as  a  political 
machine  in  the  interest  of  Governor  Odell,  not  to  say  any- 
thing about  the  purchase  of  supplies  a  la  Matthews  &  Co., 
(the  Governor's  grocery  partners  at  Newburgh.)" 

*  *  * 

ODELL,  THE  GROCERY  MAN. 
-    Upon  the  accomplishment  of  this  last  move  of  the  Governor's,  the 
New  York  SUN  pointed  out  that  the  new  law  was  framed  to  transfer 


100  NEW   YORK,  1002-1003. 


JZ?    jS?  j& 

The  Campaign 
Ghost  Dance. 

The  Republican  Indians  having  assumed  a  supposed  disguise  of 
"Fusion"  feathers  are  indulging-  in  a  veritable  "Ghost  Dance"  in  this 
campaign.  In  their  mummeries  and  incantations  they  do  not  even 
deceive  themselves.  With  Deveryism  cast  out  by  the  Democrats,  while 
its  head  and  front  is  supported  and  indorsed  by  Republican  County 
Chairman  Bruce  and  his  associates,  the  Democracy  to-day  is  farther 
from  the  conditions  of  1901  than  the  "Fusion"  administration  is  with 
its  admitted  failure  to  abolish  "graft." 

With  its  management  in  new  hands  and  the  great  numbers  of  men 
of  position  and  influence  returning  to  its  ranks,  the  Democratic  organ- 
ization cannot  be  assailed  to-day  on  the  dead  issue  of  alleged  absentee 
leadership. 

With  a  record  of  two  years  of  an  adverse  administration  unable  to 
make  the  promised  revelations  of  corruption  and  extravagance  or  to 
carry  out  the  threats  of  condign  punishments  for  accused  Democratic 
officials  of  1S9S  to  1902,  the  latter  stand  to-day  in  a  better  light  before  the 
public  than  the  incumbent  "Fusionists,"  who  are  loudly  claiming 
retrenchment  on  a  record  of  extravagance  and  improvement  on  a  record 
of  inefficiency. 

With  a  Republican  President,  a  Republican  Governor,  all  the  Repub- 
lican bosses  and  the  Republican  press  scheming  for  the  renomination 
of  Mayor  Low  with  no  concealment  of  the  fact  that  their  eye3  are  on 
the  Presidential  fight  of  1904.  all  pretence  of  non-partisanship  falls  from 
the  imposture  of  "Fusion." 

All  of  these  issues  are  as  dead  as  Adam,  and  even  as  ghosts  they 
have  no  power  to  terrify  an  infant  In  politics  of  the  tribe  of  Acorns. 

On  with  the  Republican  Ghost  Dance!   It  is  a  diverting  spectacle. 


Jc?    Jc?  jZ7 


101 


102 


NEW   YORK,  1002-1903. 


to  the  Governor  all  the  powers  now  vested  in  the  Salary  Classification 
Committee,  and  thereby  give  him  the  absolute  control  of  the  entire 
personnel  of  the  charities  service.    Under  the  title  of  "Glorious  News 
for  the  Inmates,"  it  ironically  put  its  congratulations  on  record  thus: 
"This  is  an  admirable  proposition,  if  for  no  other  reason 
than  that  it  implies  a  guarantee  of  the  quality  of  the  food  sup- 
plies of  the  lunatic  and  other  unhappy  wards  of  the  State  of 
New  York.    With  the  alimentation  of  the  State  institutions 
confined  solely  to  Matthews  &  Co.,  the  Governor  will  be  able 
personally  to  vouch  for  the  excellence  and  purity  of  the  goods 
and  satisfy  himself  that  a  proper  price  is  being  paid  for 
them. 

"We  take  it  that  there  is  no  indiscretion  in  our  commend- 
ing to  public  confidence  the  eminent  house  of  Matthews  &  Co., 
of  Newburgh,  with  its  quiet,  sedate  and  industrious  associate, 
the  distinguished  epicier  of  the  State  House  at  Albany.  Prime 
are  its  coffees,  its  Oolongs  and  Souchongs,  its  self-raising 
hams  and  its  sugar-cured  flour,  and  likewise  the  countless 
other  commodities  that  make  up  the  bill  of  fare  of  the  State's 
various  dependents. 

"Happy,  too,  the  many  philanthropists  from  whose  shoul- 
ders our  unselfish  Governor  takes  the  heavy  burden  of  admin- 
istering these  State  charities.  Without  other  reward  than 
the  consciousness  of  good  deeds  done,  they  have  given  their 
time  and  labor  to  the  cause,  and  it  can  well  be  imagined 
with  what  feelings  of  gratitude  and  pious  resignation  they 
see  their  thankless  tasks  assumed  by  the  Chief  Executive  of 
the  State. 

"How  the  eleemosynary  charges  of  the  Newburgh  Chari- 
ties Trust  will  thrive  during  the  next  two  years,  anyhow!" 

XI. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  certain  very  disagreeable  disclosures 
made  within  a  year  connected  Gov.  Odell  with  the  grocery  firm  of  Mat- 
thews &  Co.,  of  Newburgh,  as  a  sort  of  special  partner;  that  the  firm 
has  been  furnishing  State  institutions  with  supplies;  that  the  sum  total 
of  supplies  for  these  institutions  mount  up  annually  into  millions,  and 
that  a  Bender,  under  the  Governor's  eye,  attends  to  the  supervision  of 
these  expenditures,  then  can  readily  be  understood  the  full  significance 
of  these  centralizing  tendencies  of  our  Governor. 

Thus  the  New  York  SUN,  with  its  accustomed  directness,  emphasized 
the  growing  distrust  of  the  would-be  Boss  of  the  Republican  State 
Machine,  March  24,  1903: 

ODELL,  MATTHEWS  &  CO. 
Odell.— "Many  Republicans  who  have  nothing  to  hope  from 
organization  affiliations  are  sorry  that  Gov.  Odell,  while  Gov- 
ernor of  the  State  of  New  York,  has  been  engaged  in  com- 
mercial and  financial  enterprises.  They  say  that  other  Gov- 
ernors, Republicans  and  Democrats,  within  their  knowledge, 
going  back  to  1856,  have  kept  free  of  such  entanglements 
while  in  office. 

"The  connection  of  Gov.  Odell  with  the  firm  of  Mat- 
thews Co.,  was  a  source  of  sorrow  and  humiliation  to 
many  Republicans  in  the  last  campaign. 

"The  Governor's  alleged  connection  with  other  business 
enterprises  whose  prosperity  he  could  influence  Is  also  a  mat- 
ter of  distress  to  some  of  the  Governor's  friends.  These  things 
are  matters  of  daily  talk  among  Republicans  In  the  street 
and  in  the  clubs,  and  among  men  who  would  not  desire  to 
speak  unfairly  or  unjustly  to  the  Governor  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  whether  he  be  a  Republican  or  a  Democrat." 
*      *  • 

ODELL'S  BANK  ACCOUNT. 
XI. 

Somewhat  more  severe  was  the  SUN  in  its  contemplation  of  Go\r. 
Odell,  a  month  later,  when  it  tuok  its  readers  into  Its  confidence  in  this 
language: 


XT5W   YORK,  1902-1003. 


103 


"The  Hon.  Benjamin  B.  Odell  has  elected  while  Gov- 
ernor to  increase  his  bank  account  rather  than  his  stand- 
ing as  a  public  man. 

"His  management  of  legislation  touching  the  State  Chari- 
ties and  the  exertfon  of  his  influence  with  the  government 
of  New  York  City  toward  obtaining  the  lease  to  his  steam- 
boat company  of  Pier  24  forbid  any  reasonable  doubt  of  this 
bewildering  fact. 

"Never  was  there  in  the  Republican  party  more  urgent 
need  of  the  spirit  of  sobriety  and  rectitude,  militant  and 
visible,  than  there  is  to-day." 

*  *  * 

ODELL  AND  NEW  YORK  CITY  JUDGES. 
XII. 

The  City  of  New  York  especially  has  had  cause  to 
hold  our  unscrupulous  Governor  in  unkindly  remembrance. 
His  attempt  to  raid  its  judicial  machinery  and  attach  it 
to  his  owli  political  fortunes  was  not,  it  is  true,  successful, 
but  that  was  not  the  Governor's  fault,  and  we  may  expect 
to  see  it  repeated  should  the  Republican-Fusion  combina- 
tion chance  to  influence  the  election  of  an  Assembly  which 
shall  again  be  completely  dominated  by  the  Governor  next 
Winter. 

The  Governor's  plea  that  the  calendars  were  congested  and  the 
courts  needed  relief  was  true  enough,  but  the  methods  he  proposed 
showed  his  insincerity.  He  would  have  had  Judges  from  up-the-State 
assigned  by  the  Governor  to  duty  in  this  vicinity,  thus  depriving  our 
Judiciary  of  the  right  of  regulating  its  own  affairs.  He  would  have 
had  up-the-State  county  Judges.  two-thousand-dollars-a-year-men,  come 
down  to  the  city  and  take  hold  of  seventeen-thousand-five-hundred- 
dollar  jobs,  for  which  they  were  manifestly  unfitted.  Of  course  these 
propositions  raised  a  storm  of  indignation.  Clearly  he  was  aiming  at  the 
possession  of  the  largest  possible  control  over  the  Judiciary  through  the 
channel  of  patronage. 

His  motives  were  the  same  as  those  of  the  monarch  of 

whom  it  was  declared  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence: 
"He  has  made  judges  dependent  on  his  will  alone,  for 

the  tenure  of  their  offices,  and  the  amount  and  payment  of 

their  salaries." 

Caught  with  the  goods  on  him.  the  Governor  beat  a  retreat.  It 
seemed  to  the  Sun  that  the  Governor's  situation  was  "painfully  sug- 
gestive of  a  political  leader  who  has  become  badly  'rattled'  by  a  con- 
sciousness of  his  own  error  in  stretching  out  for  the  control  of  a 
co-ordinate  branch  of  the  State  government." 

But,  said  the  New  York  TIMES:  "Gov.  Odell  is  bold,  the 
Legislature  is  subservient.  He  may  secure  the  power  he 
grasps  at.  But  that  he  or  the  Legislature  or  the  Republican 
party  should  escape  responsibility  for  these  acts  of  usurpation 
is  Impossible.  *  *  *  Gov.  Odell  should  not  be  permitted  to 
go  one  step  further  in  the  path  of  usurpation  upon  which  he 
has  entered." 

*  *  * 

ODELL'S  VOTING  MACHINES. 
XIII. 

The  efforts  of  Gov.  Odell  and  his  friends  of  the  Republican  State 
Machines  to  foist  upon  this  city  an  expenditure  of  $807,400  in  the  pur- 
chase of  voting  machines  will  no  more  be  forgotten  than  his  attempt 
upon  the  Judiciary.  Something  like  1,468  machines  would  have  been  re- 
quired and  their  cost  was  to  have  been  $550  each.  There  were  at  that 
time  19  voting  machines  in  the  market,  but  the  State  limited  the  pur- 
chase to  two  of  them.  These  were  manufactured  by  two  companies 
which  were  believed  to  have  an  "understanding"  with  one  another, 
wholly  politico-commercial  and  entirely  satisfactory  to  each.  The  fac- 
tory of  one  was  in  Chautauqua  County,  and  a  leading  director  was  one 
of  Gov.  Odell's  political  lieutenants  in  that  highly  Republicanized  section 


104 


NEW   YORK,  1902-1903. 


of  the  State.  Newspaper  publicity  and  such  statements  as '  this  by 
Elections  Commissioner  John  R.  Voorhis  frightened  the  voting  machina 
lobby  out  o£  the  field. 

Said  Mr.  Voorhis:  "I  do  believe  that  the  City  of  New 
York  should  not  be  clubbed  by  the  Legislature  into  spending 
nearly  a  million  of  dollars  for  voting  machines.  We  can  afford 
to  wait  a  year  or  two.  The  makers  of  the  machines  are  con- 
stantly making  improvements,  and  yet  we  have  to-day  no  per- 
fect machines.  The  city's  hands,  however,  are  tied  by  such 
legislation.  Out  of  19  machines  it  might  choose  from,  it  is 
limited  to  one  of  two  styles." 

*  *  * 

MULCTING  THE  METROPOLIS. 
XIV. 

With  Gov.  Odell's  many  schemes  for  mulcting  the  vast  interests  of 
this  city  and  wiping  out  the  direct  State  tax  to  the  especial  benefit  of 
the  farmers  in  the  Republican  interior  of  this  State,  the  intelligent  tax- 
payers of  the  vicinity  must  be  tolerably  familiar. 

His  plan  for  taxing  mortgages  was  declared  by  the 
financial  world  to  be  essentially  unsound,  and   he  was 
promptly  certified  as  taxation-mad.    But  there  is  a  certain 
method  in  the  madness  of  any  politician  who  would  rob 
Peter  on  the  hither  side  of  the  Harlem  River  to  pay  the 
debts  of  Paul  who  tills  the  soil  beyond. 
Said  the  Governor  in  reviewing  his  extraordinary  policies  of  taxa- 
tion before  the  maidens  and  the  mature  men,  at  the  Altamont  Fair, 
Albany  County,  this  Fall: 

"We  are  all  more  or  less  dependent  upon  the  pros- 
perity of  the  great  City  of  New  York  and  its  millions  of  in- 
habitants. The  people  of  the  cities  contribute  the  greatest 
part  of  the  State's  revenues.  True,  this  revenue  is  used  for 
purposes  which  may  be  considered,  in  some  instances,  as 
purely  local,  but  which  will  be  found  to  be  based  upon  the 
sure  foundation  of  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  num- 
ber." He  might  truthfully  have  added  that  his  policy  con- 
templated the  payment  of  all  the  State's  revenues  by  these 
same  cities,  if  the  farmers  continued  him  in  office  long 
enough  to  accomplish  his  beneficent  purpose. 

*  *  * 
ODELL   AND  LOW. 

XV 

Hostile  comment  is  not  wholly  confined  to  Democrats,  as  we  have 
already  seen.  Note  this  opinion  of  the  Republican  POST-EXPRESS,  of 
Rochester,  in  April  last: 

"Republicans  and  all  interested  In  beating  Tammany  Hall 
next  Fall  and  retaining  the  State  a  year  from"  next  Fall  in 
the  Republican  columns  are  not  averse,  but  rather  glad,  to 
sound  the  tocsin,  and,  if  necessary,  put  upon  Gov.  Odell  and 
Mayor  Low  the  strictures  which  blind  egotism,  blundering 
ignorance  and  all  self-sufficiency  deserve." 

XVI. 

One  more  vivid  contribution  from  the  New  York  SUN  of  March  24, 
1903,  and  the  curtain  may  be  dropped: 

"The  newspapers  printed  the  other  day  articles  to  the 
effect  that  'Gov.  Odell  has  cleared  out  the  lobby  at  Albany!' 

"This  statement  was  one  of  the  most  truthful  that  the 
New  York  City  newspapers  had  printed  in  many  years. 

"There  is  now  no  Third  House  at  Albany — there  has 
not  been  since  Mr.  Odell  became  Governor  of  the  State  of 
New  York." 

*  •  • 

ODELL'S  DEGREE  OF  LL.  D. 
XVIL 

Such  is  the  Governor  upon  whom  Columbia  University  conferred  thi 
hitherto  respected  degree  of  LL:  D.    Such  is  the  Republican  State  Ma- 


NEW   YORK,  1002-1903. 


103 


chine,  curiously  enough  overlooked  by  Prof.  Boyce  In  his  search  lor 
excrescences  upon  the  American  Commonwealth,  and  of  which  Odell  is 
Its  most  arrogant  product. 

A  WARNING  TO  THIS  CITY. 
Whether   Eat-him-up-Platt    or   Rip-the-old-man-up-the-back  Odell 
wins  their  struggle  for  the  Bosship  of  this  machine  is  of  little  moment 
to  this  city,  conscious  as  its  citizens  must  be  that  when  rogues  fall  out 
honest  men  are  likely  to  get  their  just  dues. 

But  it  is  of  consequence  that  the  Republican  machine 
itself  should  receive  a  body-blow  this  Fall,  and  the  way  be 
prepared  for  throwing  off  its  yoke.  A  vote  for  the  Repub- 
lican-Fusion ticket  is  a  vote  for  its  preservation.  A  vote 
for  the  Democratic  ticket  is  a  vote  for  its  suppression, 
the  destruction  of  these  centralizing  tendencies  which  it 
has  cultivated  and  the  restoration  of  those  principles  of 
justice,  equality  and  honesty  enunciated  by  the  immortal 
Jefferson. 


"FUSION"  FALSE  TO  CIVIL  SERVICE. 


Citizens'  Union  Reformer  Gets  $6,000  Salary  Tacked  on  Where 
None  Was  Paid  Before. 

In  the  campaign  of  1901  the  "Fusionists"  made .  extravagant  pre- 
tentions of  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Civil  Service  Reform.  They  par- 
ticularly disclaimed  any  intention  of  office  seeking  for  themselves.  Many 
of  them  were  supposed  to  be  wealthy  and  entirely  above  the  idea  of 
looking  for  a  salary.  After.  January  1,  1902,  there  was  a  remarkable 
change  of  heart  in  the  ranks  of  these  pretenders.  Beginning  with  the 
staff  at  the  Low  headquarters  a  grand  hunt  for  appointments  was  en- 
tered into.  Every  member  of  that  staff  down  to  the  man  who  opened 
the  door  succeeded  in  getting  his  name  on  the  public  pay  roll. 

Mayor  Low  offered  no  obstruction  to  this  change  of  front.  He 
stultified  himself  by  causing  the  Civil  Service  Laws  to  be  suspended  for 
thirty  days  and  procured  the  approval  of  the  State  Board  .to  amend- 
ments designed  to  increase  the  number  of  places  in  the  non-competi- 
tive class. 

The  pressure  for  office  from  his  supporters  continued  to  be  so  severe 
that  the  Mayor  complacently  asked  the  Legislature  to  pass  a  "sweep" 
bill,  allowing  his  heads  of  departments  to  dismiss  employees  without 
any  charges  or  hearing,  thus  withdrawing  all  the  protections  and  safe- 
guards of  the  Civil  Service  laws  from  them.  This  bill  also  provided 
that  the  Board  of  Estimate,  where  the  Mayor's  power  is  supreme,  should 
have  the  fixing  of  salaries  of  subordinates  in  the  city  departments. 

Even  the  New  York  Tribune  was  forced  to  condemn  the  Mayor  in 
this.    Under  the  head  "Hungry  for  Spoils,"  it  said  editorially: 

"The  idea  that  a  non-partisan  administration,  pledged  to 
the  maintenance  of  the  merit  system,  should  wish  to  commit 
suicide  by  legislating  its  political  opponents  in  the  depart- 
ments out  of  the  protection  of  the  Civil  Service  law  is  un- 
thinkable." 

The  rest  of  the  Fusion  organs  expressed  the  same  surprise,  and  were 
unkind  enough  to  recall  the  solemn  promises  of  the  Low  campaign  that 
party  politics  would  be  eliminated  from  his  administration  and  that 
merit  and  efficiency  would  be  the  sole  tests  for  obtaining  or  retaining 
office  in  the  Fusion  government. 

COL.  OGDEN'S  SALARY  GRAB. 

Willis  L.  Ogden,  one  of  the  chief  fugelmen  of  "Fusion"  in  the  Low 
campaign,  and  a  pretender  to  all  of  the  virtues  of  Low  himself,  wa.9 
selected  as  the  head  of  the  Municipal  Civil  Service  Commission. 


NEW   YORK,    1 002-1903. 


This  office  was  never  before  a  salaried  one,  but  for 
Mr.  Ogden,  Mayor  Low  put  it  on  the  salary  list;  and  this 
"Reformer,"  whose  political  activities  were  professedly 
inspired  by  pure  public  spirit,  has  since  enjoyed^ the  re- 
ceipt of  $6,000  a  year.  His  administration,  as  compared 
with  his  predecessor,  who  drew  no  salary,  is  a  distinct 
failure. 

More  charges  against  the  conduct  of  the  office  have  been  made  during 
his  incumbency  than  ever  before.  Examination  papers  have  been 
peddled  on  the  street,  and  applicants  for  anointment  have  been  ac- 
customed to  figure  upon  the  expense  of  securing  positions  on  the  Civil 
Service  eligible  lists. 

Mr.  Ogden  has  also  proved  most  compliant  to  all  of  the  wishes  of  the 
"Fusion"  heads  of  departments.  Some  examples  of  appointments  made 
by  virtue  of  his  accommodating  spirit  are  as  follows: 

William  Patterson,  an  Iowa  school  teacher,  through  the  efforts  of 
Commissioner  Robert  E>e  Forest,  was  appointed  Register  of  Statistics 
In  the  Tenement  House  Commission  on  a  non-competitive  examination, 
which  was  the  veriest  farce. 

A  protege  of  John  McGaw  Woodbury  received  the  appointment  as 
mate  of  a  scow  in  the  Street  Cleaning  Department  one  afternoon  at  1 
o'clock,  took  a  Civil  Service  examination  at  2  o'clock  and  at  3  o'clock 
was  in  charge  of  a  boat. 

Peter  Aitkin  was  appointed  Supervisor  of  Complaints,  and  Henry  A, 
Gulden  was  made  Superintendent  of  Incumbrances.  It  is  not  known 
whether  they  ever  took  any  examination,  for  the  Civil  Service  Commis- 
sion refused  to  answer  the  questions  of  the  reporters  on  the  subject. 

DOORS  OPEN  TO  NON-RESIDENTS. 

In  the  Bureau  of  Sewers,  Borough  of  Manhattan,  a  recent  examina- 
tion for  Assistant  Engineer  was  held  without  complying  with  the  law, 
that  every  man  in  the  bureau  eligible  for  appointment  should  be  allowed 
to  take  the  examination.  Mr.  Otto  Huffland,  in  whose  behalf  this  dodge 
was  worked,  is  a  Republican,  and  resides  in  Mt.  Vernon. 

Mayor  Low's  Commissioners  of  Accounts  appointed  John  K.  Hayward, 
of  Missouri.  Chief  Accountant,  and  Clarence  Devlin,  of  Albany,  Confi- 
dential Secretary  in  the  office  of  the  Commissioners  of  Accounts.  Both 
places  are  in  the  non-competitive  class.  The  Commissioners  had  so 
many  others  to  take  care  of  that  they  applied  to  have  thirty  more  posi- 
tions placed  in  that  class;  but  Mayor  Low  was  afraid  to  allow  this  re- 
quest to  be  complied  with.  A  compromise  was  reached  by  giving  the 
Commissioners  sixteen  jobs  at  $150  a  month  each.  Afterward  the  Com- 
missioners returned  to  the  charge  with  the  request  for  thirty  more  non- 
competitive places,  with  salaries  ranging  from  $2,000  to  J3.000  per  annum, 
and  this  time  were  successful.  The  Commissioners  refused  to  make  any 
reply  when  asked  why  these  men  had  not  been  required  to  take  a  com- 
petitive examination. 

The  system  of  peddling  Civil  Service  examination  papers  resulted  in 
the  arrest  and  conviction  of  Charles  S.  Benisch  on  a  charge  of  selling 
an  examination  paper  for  $400  to  enable  an  applicant  to  secure  a  position 
in  one  of  the  departments. 

Last  October  the  State  Civil  Service  Commission  made  a  scathing 
report  upon  the  administration  of  the  New  York  Civil  Service  Commis- 
sion. The  methods  of  the  local  board  were  discussed,  and  Commissioner 
Ogden  was  shown  up  in  a  very  unpleasant  light.  Any  mere  office-holding 
politician  would  have  resigned  his  position  and  got  out;  but  Colonel 
Ogden  held  on  tenaciously,  and  is  there  yet.  As  he  has  the  full  support 
of  Mayor  Low,  despite  the  revelations,  he  continues  to  run  the  board  ,to 
suit  himself. 

LOW  AND  OGDEN'S  EXTRAVAGANCE. 

The  falsity  of  the  "Fusion"  pretensions  in  the  matter  of  Civil  Service 
Reform  is  further  shown  by  a  little  examination  <>f  the  appropriations 
for  the  department  under  them  as  compared  with  those  under  the 
previous  administration. 

The  Civil  Service  Bureau  appropriation  for  1901  was  $S6,000,  and  part 
of  that  was  returned  to  the  city  treasury. 


NEW   YORK.  1902-1903. 


107 


The  appropriation  for  1902  was  $98,000,  and  an  additional  amount  had 
to  be  granted. 

The  appropriation  for  1903  was  $100,000,  and  an  additional  amount 
will  be  asked  for. 

The  appropriation  asked  for  in  1904  is  about  $116,000. 
The  sum  of  $5,000  has  been  spent  for  what  is  called  monitor  service 
In  the  present  year.  In  many  cases  the  proportion  of  monitors  to 
applicants  has  been  about  one  to  four.  Each  monitor  receives  $5  a  day. 
These  persons  have  not  been  appointed  from  the  eligible  lists,  and  a 
large  number  of  them  have  been  residents  from  other  States.  Oite  or 
two  individuals  are  continually  on  the  list,  and  seem  to  have  been 
consistently  favored. 

Long  periods  of  time  have  elapsed  between  examinations  and  the 
establishment  of  eligibles.  Notably  in  such  examinations  as  attendance 
officers,  searchers,  process  servers,  clerks  in  the  Tenement  House 
Department,  foremen  in  the  Fire  Department,  and  medical  inspectors. 
These  delays  were  always  co-incident  with  the  requirements  of  some 
scheme  in  regard  to  appointments  by  the  Fusion  heads  of  departments. 
LOW'S  CIVIL  SERVICE  ADMINISTRATION  DENOUNCED. 
The  first  year's  record  of  "Fusion"  in  the  Civil  Service  Bureairi  jhaa 
not  been  improved  upon.-  What  that  record  was  is  shown  by  the  sqath- 
ing  language  used  in  a  letter  to  Mayor  Low  by  Elliott  H.  Goodwin* 
secretary  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Civil  Service  Reform 
Association,  under  date  September  L  1902.  Among  the  bricks  which  were 
thrown  by  Mr.  Goodwin  in  that  letter  are  the  following: 

"If  the  knowledge  of  and  belief  in  the  principles  of  Civil 
Service  Reform  and  their  efficiency  in  promoting  good  gov- 
ernment when  applied  by  competent  administrators,  rested 
upon  no  surer  foundation  than  that  afforded  by  the  conduct 
of  the  present  local  commission  no  answer  could  be  made 
to  the  open  and  avowed  enemies  of  Civil  Service  Reform 
as  a  practical  and  effective  means  of  bettering  the  public 
service."  - 
«  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

"Whether  care  be  had  to  the  character  or  to  tne  cost  a. 
-the  work  the  inefficiency  of  the  commission  is  marked,  as 
shown  by  the  following  comparison : 

Cost  in  the  Federal  service  per  person  examined  $2.72 

-  Cost  in  New  York  and  Brooklyn  before  consolidation, 

per  person   4.74 

Under   the   present   New   York   City    Commission,  per 

person   6.76: 

•  This  increased  expense  would  be  a  matter  of  smalL  - 
importance  if  there  were- a  corresponding  or  even  a  measur-;.  a 
able  increase  in  the  efficiency  of  the  administration  as  com-: 
pared  with  the  Federal  Civil  Service  or  the  Civil  Service 
of  New  York  in  1897.    The  very  opposite  is  the  fact. 

"This  association  has  repeatedly  called  attention  to  the-  -, 
injury  to  the  public  business  and  the  great  harm  to  civil  ~ 
service  reform  due  to  the  expensive  and  inefficient  methods 
of  the  present  City  Civil  Service  Commission. 

"The  commission  has  entertained  approximately  300  ap- 
peals for  re-rating  the  markings  of  its  examiners  and  has 
granted  re-rating  to  more  than  one-sixth  of  those  asking  for 
it.  Taking  less  than  50  of  such  re-ratings  we  find  that  they 
resulted  to  the  prejudice  of  more  than  1,450  candidates  already 
on  the  eligible  lists. 

"Such  re-rating  is  not  only  an  abuse  in  itself,  it  is  an 
injustice  to  all  the  other  candidates.  Naturally  they  attribute 
the  result  to  'influence.'  And  why  not,  when  the  results 
attained  are  precisely  those  which  'influence*  would  attempt 
to  secure,  and  if  a  Civil  Service  Commission  were  abandoned 
'influence'  would  secure? 

"The  commission  has  not  only  shown  its  lack  of  confidence 
in  :ts  own  methods,  but  it  has  largely  lost  the  confidence 
of  the  public,  especially  those  willing  to  seek  positions  in  the 
public  service  through  open  competitive  methods. 


10* 


NEW   YORK,  1902-1003. 


"This  commission  had  larger  powers  than  any  of  its 
predecessors,  and  it  had  a  gTeat  increase  of  membership, 
thus  making  possible  subdivision  of  labor  and  a  systematiz- 
ing of  it.  It  was  clothed  with  ample  authority  to  investi- 
gate the  different  abuses  of  the  service  and  to  expose  and 
devise  proper  remedies.  We  do  not  think  the  commission  has 
adequately  met  its  opportunities. 

"To  write  this  letter  has  been  a  painful  duty.  Its  purpose 
l   j    is  to  express  some  of  the  reasons  calling  for  a  prompt  and 
t    great  improvement  in  the  efficiency  of  the  local  administration 
of  the  civil  service  law." 

Secretary  Goodwin's  letter,  of  course,  made  no  impression  upon 
Mayor  Low.  His  arrangement  to  pay  a  salary  of  $6,000  a  year  to  Willis 
L.  Ogden,  a  Citizens'  Union  pillar,  as  head  of  the  Civil  Service  Com- 
mission where  no  salary  had  ever  been  paid  before,  was  sufficient  evi- 
dence that  the  devotion  to  Civil  Service  Reform  as  understood  by  the 
Reform  Association  had  no  part  in  his  political  plans  after  the  time 
for  making  campaign  promises  was  over. 

LAW  VIOLATED  FOR  DE  FOREST, 
i  -.Some  of  the  most  flagrant  violations  of  the  Civil  Service  law  have 
occurred  in  connection  with  the  Tenement  House  Commission  during  De 
Forest's  administration.  "Professor"'  Patterson  of  Iowa  was  "rail- 
roaded' into  a  job  in  direct  violation  of  the  law.  The  "professor"  came 
on  here  "with  his  job  in  his  pocket."  He  took  a  so-called  examination 
one  day  and  went  to  work  the  next.  The  examination  consisted  of  six 
hypothetical  questions  and  had  no  bearing  on  his  position  as  •"Registrar 
of  Statistics."  About  50  people  had  filed  applications  to  take  the 
examination  for  the  position,  and  when  inquiries  were  made  by  the 
waiting  ones  the  Civil  Service  people  said  the  position  had  been  filled 
and  there  was  no  need  of  a  competitive  examination.  Thus  a  non-resi- 
dent landed  in  a  good  position  and  residents  of  the  city  were  debarred 
from  even  taking  an  examination.  Patterson  is  mixed  up  in  the  stories 
of  Tenement  House  Commission  furniture  scandals  with  Veiller,  the 
Deputy  Commissioner. 

But  Patterson  is  not  the  only  one  from  Iowa.  He  had  been  holding 
his  place  only  a  few  weeks  when  he  sent  for  Forrest  A.  Hirleman  to 
come  on  and  help  "look  after  the  poor  people  of  the  tenements." 

The  quoted  phrase  is  a  standing  joke  in  that  department.  Hirleman 
landed  in  New  York  one»morning  and  went  to  work  the  next.  He  also 
took  a  non-competitive  examination,  and  draws  a  salary  of  $1,500  a  year 
as  a  "Supervising  Inspector."  He  spends  his  time  loafing  around  the 
office,  never  inspecting  anything  but  his  pay  check. 

Charles  B.  Ball  is  designated  as  a  "Chief  Inspector  of  Tenements" 
at  $3,000  per  year.  Ball  came  on  from  Washington.  D.  C,  where  he 
was  and  is  still  connected  with  the  Health  Board.  It  is  not  recorded 
that  he  ever  took  an  examination  of  any  kind.  He  spends  half  of  his 
time  in  Washington,  and  it  is  said  he  draws  a  salary  there  as  a  Sanitary 
Inspector.  There  are  no  tenements  in  Washington  or  Iowa,  and  it  really 
doesn't  matter,  for  of  the  eight  Supervising  Inspectors  and  five  Chief 
Inspectors  only  one  ever  goes  out  to  see  if  the  inspectors  are  doing 
their  work.  Ball's  place  is  merely  a  political  snap,  and  he  was  recom- 
mended by  Roosevelt,  who  was  once  a  Civil  Service  reformer  and 
formerly  a  member  of  the  United  States  Civil  Service  Commission. 

The  law  has  been  violated  in  the  Tenement  House  Commission  in 
many  ways.  Over  60  per  cent,  of  the  total  appointments  are  people 
recommended  by  the  Charity  Organization  Society,  and  they  have  been 
given  the  preference,  although  they  were  at  the  middle  or  bottom  of 
the  eligible  list.  In  several  cases  clerks  in  the  office,  who  were  on 
the  eligible  list  for  promotion,  were  ordered  to  stand  aside  for  charity 
workers,  and  the  law  on  promotions  was  wholly  ignored. 

OGDEN  DOMINATED  BY  M'ANENY. 

Col.  Willis  L.  Ogden  is  the  president  of  the  Civil  Service  Commission, 
according  to  the  City  Record.  When  he  was  appointed  he  told  Low  that 
his  business  interests  would  suffer  if  he  devoted  his  whole  time  to  the 
Commission.  According  to  the  newspapers  of  the  past  year,  the 
Colonel's  business  has  not  suffered  in  the  least  by  any  attention  he  haa 
given  to  his  department. 


NEW   YORK.  1902-1903. 


109 


The  real  head  of  the  Commission  is  George  MeAneny,  the  secretary, 
lie  was  formerly  connected  with  the  Civil  Service  Reform  Association. 
His  salary  as  secretary  is  $6,000  a  year.  As  is  the  case  witn  several  other 
reformers,  he  thought  he  knew  all  about  the  Commission  as  soon  as 
h>>  got  in  the  place.  His  usurpation  of  the  powers  of  the  Commission 
and  insisting  upon  construing  the  rules  to  suit  his  own  desires  caused 
many  letters  of  complaint  to  be  written  to  the  Commissioners. 

MeAneny  is  the  man  who  invented  the  little  political  joker  as  the 
"non-competitive  examination,"  which  is  in  reality  no  examination  at 
all,  The  non-competitive  examination  has  been  a  great  thing  for  the 
Fusionists.  If  a  head  of  a  department  wished  to  place  a  friend  the 
scheme  worked  was  to  send  down  to  MeAneny  for  one  of  his  famous 
non-competitive  examinations,  and  MeAneny  was  always  willing  to 
oblige,  as  he  occasionally  had  a  friend  who  wanted  a  position.  In  several 
instances  appointments  were  made  through  this  scheme,  and  when, 
people  whose  names  were  on  the  lfsts  called  to  ask  about  the  date  of 
the  regular  examination  they  were  invariably  treated  as  intruders,  and 
in  some  cases  were  insulted. 

McEneny  is  the  man  who  invented  the  little  political  joker,  the 
in  which  he  spoke  of  the  great  evils  that  would  come  to  the  city  if 
the  competitive  examination  idea  was  not  carried  out.  Since  then  he 
seems  to  have  changed  his  views  if  the  number  of  non-competitive 
appointments  made  is  any  criterion. 

MeAneny  refused  to  show  public  records  of  examinations  and  ap- 
pointments, and  thus  avoided  answering  many  awkward  questions.  In 
many  cases  of  non-competitive  examinations  the  appointment  was  sup- 
pressed, and  this  enabled  the  appointee  to  be  at  work  long  before  the 
appointment  was  known  to  the  other  applicants  for  that  particular 
position. 

The  press  of  the  city,  particularly  the  New  York  Press  and  Brooklyn 
Citizen,  criticized  MeAneny  severely  for  the  manner  in  which  he  con- 
ducted the  affairs  of  the  Commission. 

MeAneny  is  a  Republican  henchman,  and  has  favored  his  party  in 
every  way  possible. 

MORE  CIVIL  SERVICE  ABUSES. 

Under  the  head  of  "Leak  in  the  Civil  Service  worked  by  Politicians." 
the  Brooklyn  EAGLE  of  February  22,  1902,  published  a  startling  story 
that  from  some  employee  in  the  office  of  the  Civil  Service  Commission 
certain  data  and  information  regarding  examinations  was  being  fur- 
nished systematically  to  certain  political  leaders  identified  with  the 
Greater  New  York  Democracy  and  the  Coffey  Democracy.  The  article 
said: 

"According  to  the  EAGLE'S  information,  the  leaders  of  . 
the  Greater  New  York  Denioci  acy  and  the  Brooklyn  Democ- 
racy are  in  direct  touch  with  the  doings  of  the  Civil  Service 
Commission  and  are  furnished  with  all  the  information  neces- 
sary to  the  attainment  of  their  ends  at  first  hand:  It  is  said 
that  not  an  eligible  list  is  ever  prepared  by  the  Civil  Service. 
Commission,  which,  before  it  is  scrutinized  by  any  one  else 
or  ever  is  made  public,  is  not  exhibited  to  certain  representa- 
tives of  the  leaders  of  these  two  organizations  or  to  the  leaders 
themselves. 

"No  appointment  is  ever  made,  it  is  further  asserted, 
without  the  same  men  being  acquainted  with  the  information 
that  such  an  appointment  is  about  to  be  made.  No  examina- 
tion is  announced  without  these  men  being  first  apprised  of  it 
and  opportunity  given  to  them  to  acquaint  their  constituents 
of  it. 

"Nor  do  the  methods  of  the  political  leaders  who,  it  is 
said,  are  interesttd  in  this  scheme,  stop  here.  Attempts  havfl 
been  made  to  coerce  persons  who  have  undertaken  and  passed 
Civil  Service  examinations  into  joining  the  organizations,  with 
the  accompanying  implied  threat  that  if  they  do  not  comply 
with  the  demands  made  on  them  they  will  never  succeed  in 
being  appointed." 
When  these  charges  were  laid  before  the  Civil  Service  Commission 

they  said  they  had  heard  of  such  things.    What  have  they  done  to  stop 

the  "leaks." 


110  NEW   YORK,  1002—1903. 

■ 


"  FUSION'S"  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION. 


PHilip  and  Mark  Cowen  Illustrate  What  It  Means  When  Re- 
formers Are  in  Office. 

The  Cowen  family— that  is  Philip  Cowen  and  Mark  Cowen— attained 
some  prominence  in  the  Fusion  administration. 

Philip  was  appointed  Supervisor  of  the  City  Record  by  Mayor  Low. 
His  duties  were  to  suuply  all  the  city  departments  with  stationery  and 
ta> 'Supervise  the  printing  of  the  city's  official  newspaper  known  as  the 
City  Record. 

S  Cowen  had  not  been  in  office  long  before  he  displayed  gross  incompe- 
tence. As  Low  said  in  a  resolution,  "He  failed  to  have  a  mastery  of 
circumstances."  and  "his  lack  of  the  administrative  gift  was  the  most 
conspicuous." 

Cowen  was  formally  charged  with  restricting  competition  to  favored 
bidders  and  giving  large  "emergency"  orders  to  his  friends.  His' books 
showed  a  deficiency  of  over  $200,000.  As  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  City 
Record  he  was  obliged  to  stand  up  and  read  the  charges  against  him- 
self. The  newspapers  pounded  him  unmercifully  and  olamed  Low  for 
not  ascertaining  Cowen's  utter  lack  of  business  capability  before 
appointing  him  head  of  such  an  important  city  department. 

Cowen  probably,  thought  that,  amid  the  almost  innumerable  scandals 
of  the  Reform  administration,  he  might  possibly  escape  further  pub- 
licity. But  he  was  mistaken.  The  newspapers  renewed  their  attacks  on 
him,  and  two  months  after  the  chief  charges  were  preferred,  Cowen 
handed  in  his  "answer."  Cowen's  reply  to  the  charges  was  in  the  form 
of  a  104-page  parti-colored  book.  He  showed  up  other  members  of  Low's 
cabinet  in  one  tint  and  upheld  himself  in  another.  The  extravagant 
"styJe"'of  the  book  was  only  another  illustration  of  Cowen's  reckless 
expenditure  of  the  city's  money— for  the  cost  of  printing  a  few  copies  of 
tMs  edition  "de  luxe"  was  over  $500,  and  the  city  had  to  pay  the  bill,  of 
course. 

After  several  secret  meetings  of  the  Board  of  City  Record,  and  some 
more  pounding  by  the  papers,  Cowen  was  allowed  to  "resign,"  and  Low 
waS1  so  grateful  Cowen  had  got  out  of  the  limeligiit  of  publicity  that 
he  promptly  voted  to  give  him  a  thick  coat  of  the  beautiful  "Reform'' 
tint  of  whitewash.  Even  the  staid  old  Evening  Post  was  forced  to  say 
tha*i  the  "Cowen  incident  could  not  fail  to  be  humiliating  to  the  Low 
administration." 

'The  other  Cowen  who  assists  in  "humiliating"  the  Reform  adminis- 
tration is  known  as  Mark  Cowen,  and  is  in  the  uniform  and  supply 
business  on  Lafayette  place.  About  the  time  the  Tenement  House  Com- 
mission was  organized  in  the  early  months  of  the  Reform  regime, 
Mark  formed  ah  "alliance"  with  Veiller,  the  Deputy  Commissioner. 
Philip  had  a  "good  thing"  in  the  City  Record  office  and  saw  things  were 
so  easy  he  tipped  Mark  off  to  go  after  the  graft  in  furnishing  uni« 
forms,  fedora  hats  and  badges.  Accordingly  the  latter  ,  sold  the  city 
lettered  hat  bands  at  90  cents  that  were  worth  15  cents,  and  many  other 
things  in  proportion.  The  men  were  compelled  to  pay  for  their  own 
hats,  so  Mark  charged  them  $2  apiece  for  cheap  "chowder  fedoras"  that 
sold  on  the  Bowery  for  35  cents.  Every  time  an  inspector  was  caught 
In  the  rain  he  looked  as  if  a  bottle  of  Philip  Cowen's  ink  had  hit  him 
In  the  face.  And,  of  course,  the  Inspector  had  to  go  down  to  Mark 
and  get  a  new  "regulation"  fedora.  Mark  charged  a  fat  price  for  the 
uniforms,  and  it  was  in  these  he  had  the  largest  "graft.  '   These  urn- 


NEW   YORK.  1902-1903. 


Ill 


forms  were  inferior  to  those  worn  by  car  conductors,  but  cost  three 
times  as  much.  They  were  made  of  flimsy  material  and  lasted  but  a 
short  time. 

During  the  last  campaign  the  Cowen  brothers  were  active  workers 
♦  in  the  East  Side  for  the  cause  of  Reform.  When  the  Reformers  came 
tnto  power  they  put  in  a  claim  that  they  were  entitled  to  some 
"recognition."  It  looks  very  much  as  if  the  brothers  got  all  that  they 
were  entitled  to. 

One  of  the  pledges  of  the  Reformers  was  that,  if  elected,  they  would 
give  us  a  business  administration.  The  Cowen  brothers  are  proofs  of  the 
character  of  a  Reform  "business"  administration. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  CHARITIES. 


Homer  Folks,  the  Fusion  Commissioner  of  Charities,  is  believed  by 
the  administration  to  be  an  official  particularly  well-suited  by  reason  of 
his  studies  and  his  tastes  to  have  the  care  of  this  department.  He 
*  demonstrated  this  when  he  went  in  by  continuing  and  giving  credit  to 
former  Commissioner  Keller  for  important  reforms  which  he  had  insti- 
tuted in  the  department.  One  of  these  was  the  discontinuance  of  the 
employment  of  workhouse  inmates  in  the  charity  institutions.  Another 
was  the  reduction  of  the  death  rate  of  children  on  Randall's  Island. 
Through  Commissioner  Keller's  efforts  the  mortality  of  children  was 
reduced  from  96  7-10  to  less  than  20  per  cent.;  and  for  this  work  he  was 
highly  commended  by  the  New  York  County  Visiting  Committee  in  it3 
annual  report. 

Commissioner  Folks  found  that  the  heads  of  institu- 
tions and  of  the  bureaus  in  the  department  left  to  him  by 
his  predecessor  were  capable  and  efficient  in  their  posi- 
tions. 

They  remain  as  they  were  when  he  went  into  office,  except  in  the 
case  o/  Superintendent  George  Blair,  of  the  Outdoor  Poor  Dpartment. 
He  has  been  succeeded  by  Edwin  F.  Merwin,  a  Republican  politician. 
The  retained  officials  are  as  follows: 

William  B.  O'Rourke,  Superintendent  of  Metropolitan  Hospital;  M. 
C.  Dunphy.  Superintendent  of  Randall's  Island;  Robert  Roberts,  Super- 
intendent of  Almshouse;  Edward  E  McMahon,  Steward  of  Almshouse; 
Joseph  Schilling,  Superintendent  of  City  Hospital;  J.  McKee  Borden, 
Secretary  to  Department,  Central  Office;  Cyrus  V.  Kean,  Auditor,  Cen- 
tral Office;  Frederick  Bauer,  Superintendent,  Bureau  of  Dependent  Chil- 
dren; William  C.  Yorke,  Superintendent  of  Municipal  Lodging  House; 
A.  J.  Dickerson,  General  Storekeeper  Blackwell's  Island;  Miss  Mary 
Gilmour,  Superintendent  of  City  Training  School  for  Nurses;  Dr.  F.  M. 
Bauer,  Examining  Physician  for  Admission  to  Island  Institutions. 

In  the  "Fusion"  claim  of  credit  foi  the  administration  of  the  depart- 
ment their  share  should  not  be  forgotten.  They  are  practical  men,  and 
know  how  to  do  the  work.  Mi.  Folks,  though  a  theorist,  is  entitled  to 
some  praise  for  being  practical  enough  to  keep  these  assistants. 

Commisioner  Folks  has  shown  other  evidences  of  being  practical. 
He  has  largely  increased  the  pay  roll  and  paid  high  prices  for  supplies, 
the  result  being  a  steady  increase  in  appropriations  from  the  figure  of 
^1,895,491.01  in  1901  tc  $2,398,070.93  in  1903. 

Of  course  some  humbug  "Fusion"  claims  are  made  in  behalf  of  Mr. 
Folks.  One  was  in  connection  with  his  appointment  of  a  supervising 
nurse  for  the  infant  hospital.  Commissioner  Keller's  failure  to  fill  this 
place  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Civil  Service  Commissioners  could 
not  furnish  an  eligible  list  from  which  to  make  the  appointment. 
FUSION'S  NEW  MORGUE  GANG. 

It  is  also  claimed  for  Commissioner  Folks  that  he  made  war  upon 
the  undertakers  in  the  neighborhood  of  East  Twenty-sixth  street,  who 
are  alleged  to  have  carried  their  business  rivalry  to  such  an  extreme 
as  to  result  in  abuses,  from  which  the  poor  suffered.  This  is  not  a  new 
Bubjtect,  and  other  commissioners  achieved  as  much  success  in  the 


112 


NEW   YORK,  1902-1903 


direction  of  repressing  this  as  Mr.  Folks  has  done.  They  did  it  in  a 
different  way,  as  they  restricted  the  facilities  of  the  undertakers  in  the 
neighborhood  as  far  as  possible  and  opened  the  grewsome  business  to 
general  competition.  Under  Commissioner  Folks,  assisted  by  Super- 
intendent of  Outdoor  Poor  Merwin,  the  war  upon  the  undertakers  in 
the  neighborhood  has  been  carried  on  with  the  aid  of  a  West  Side 
coffin  trust.  Mr.  Merwin  uses  the  telephone  regularly  to  keep  this 
concern  posted  as  to  the  possibility  of  business  at  Bellevue.  The  cor- 
poration whose  interest  this  official  promotes  so  energetically  is  in  the 
hands  of  an  officer  of  the  court  who  was  a  conspicuous  official  in  the 
Strong  administration,  and  very  near  to  the  Mayor.  The  matter  has 
been  called  to  the  attention  of  Commissioner  Folks;  but  he  does  not 
seem  to  see  any  impropriety  in  it. 

The  Fusion  Charities  Commissioner  is  fond  of  exploiting  the  man- 
agement of  Bellevue  Hospital,  though  his  connection  with  that  is  only 
as  an  ex-officio  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Yet,  it  is  only  a  few  months  ago  that  the  newspapers  of  the  city 
were  filled  with  stories  of  brutal  treatment  of  inmates  by  em- 
ployees of  the  hospital.  The  explanation  given  by  this  official  is 
that  the  outrages  were  the  work  of  some  convalescents  who  were  acting^ 
as  nurses,  while  the  regular  nurses  were  away  from  their  posts.  This 
seems  to  make  the  matter  worse  instead  of  improving  it.  It  is  scarcely 
less  a  reflection  upon  the  administration. 

A  heading  in  the  World  of  January  30,  1903,  indicates  the  character 
of  these  brutalities  as  follows: 

"Eye-witnesses  tell  horrors  of  Bellevue — Patrick  Moon 
describes  outrages  upon  old  man  McGarra — Says  nurses 
uttered  threats  of  death — Held  him  under  water,  then 
made  him  subject  to  dreadful  orgies — Had  box  in  waiting 
to  carry  out  his  body." 

Commissioner  Folks  has  been  considerably  eulogized  in  the  publi- 
cations of  the  Citizens'  Union.  In  them  he  is  given  credit  for  establish- 
ing a  separate  hospital  for  consumptives.  As  this  hospital  was  opened 
in  the  first  month  of  his  administration,  it  is  certainly  an  evidence  of 
remarkable  efficiency.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  tuberculosis  infirmary 
was  planned  and  appropriations  for  it  granted,  buildings  erected  and 
furnished  before  Mr.  Folks  took  office.  He  was,  therefore,  able  to  at 
once  transfer  the  patients  to  their  new  quarters,  a  very  easy  way  to 
secure  credit  for  establishing  the  infirmary. 


John  Doe,  John  Smith,  and  Richard  Roe, 

Are  still  at  large  they  say. 
When  will  Jerome  the  public  show, 

Who  gets  the  dough  to-day? 


Vote  against  "Fusion"  fraud  and  false  pretense. 


Vote  against  Republicanism  masked  as  non-partisanship. 


Vote  for  Honest  Democratic  City  Government  in  touch  with  the 
wants  of  the  people. 


REPUBLICAN  CLUB  OUTINGS. 

A  crying  shame  is  revealed  In  the  story  of  these  trips  of  roystering 
politicians  upon  the  city's  steamboats.  It  is  bad  enough  to  fill  these 
boats  with  merrymakers,  and  to  thus  deepen  by  contrast  the  misery 
of  the  poor  relatives  and  friends  on  their  sad  errand  to  visit  inmates. 

A  burning  outrage  is  found  In  the  practising  of  withdrawing  regular 
trips  of  th*-K*?  boats  without  notice  for  excursions  of  Republican  heelers, 
and  having  in  the  lurch  those  who  have  spent  time  and  money  they 
could  ill  afford  to  make  one  of  their  all  too  few  visits  to  some  unfortu- 
nate. 


NEW   YORK,  1002-1903. 


11$ 


114  WW   YORK.  I«3-TW». 

I  


iThe  Massasoit  Taken  from  Her  Regular  Run  to  Hart's  Island 
and  Used  for  an  Excursion  Given4  by  Deputy  County 

,       Clerk  Henry  Birrell,  While  Seventy-five  Friends  of 

•  Prisoners  and  Prison  Missionaries  Are  Driven 

^  H  5    from  the?  Dock  with  No  Explanation. 

The  steamer  Massasoit,  that  runs  to  Hart's  Island  from  the  foot  of 
East  Twenty-sixth  street,  is  the  property  of  the  Department  of  Cor- 
rection.   One  trip  a  day  is  made,  the  boat  leaving  her  Manhattan  dock 

at  11  o'clock. 

At  that  hour  on  July  18,  last,  there  were  over  seventy-five  persons 
on  the  dock  waiting  to  go  to  the  island.  Among  them  were  several 
people  from  out  of  town,  who  were  anxious  to  see  relatives.  Others 
were  poor  people  who  had  taken  a  day  off  to  see  friends.  Also  there 
were  two  or  three  missionaries  and  one  of  them  carried  some  important 
legal  papers  that  had  to  be  signed  that  day  to  be  valid. 

After,  waiting  some  time  an  announcement  was  made  that  the  boat 
would  not  run  again  that  day,  as  she  had  left  at  9  a.  m.  instead  of  11. 
This  announcement  caused  much  indignation  anions?  those  waiting,  as 
the  only  way  that  Hart's  Island  can  be  reached  besides  by  the  city  boat 
is  to  go  to  City  Island  and  be  rowed  across  the  bay.  For  these  poor 
people  this  was  out  of  the  question,  and  they  left  the  pier,  denouncing 
the  correction  officials. 

For  upon  inquiry  it  was  learned  that  the  Massasoit  had 
been  loaned  by  Commissioner  Hynes  to  Deputy  County 
Clerk  Henry  Birrell  for  a  political  excursion. 

The  invitation  to  this  excursion,  at  the  expense  of  the  city,  read  as 
follows: 

"You  are  cordially  invited  to  attend  an  outing,  which 
will  include  an  inspection  of  the  city  institutions,  situated 
on  the  East  River  and  on  the  Sound,  on  Saturday,  July  18. 
Steamer  Massasoit  will  leave  pier  foot  of  East  Twenty-sixth 
street  at  9  a.  m.  sharp.  Refreshments  will  be  provided. 
Hoping  to  have  the  pleasure  of  your  company, 
"Very  truly  yours, 

"HENRY  BIRRELL." 
No  one  offered  to  explain  why  the  city  should  lend  a  boat  for  a 
political  junket.  Commissioner  Hynes  and  other  correction  officials  were 
guests  on  the  outing.  The  party  was  in  charge  of  Secretary  John  J. 
MeKinney,  and  a  large  majority  of  the  excursionists  were  constituents 
of  Birrell.  who  is  the  Republican  leader  in  the  Twei.ty-flf th  District 
and  the  Deputy  County  Clerft. 

From  persons  in  a  position  to  know  in  the  Department 
of  Correction,  it  has  been  learned  that  trips  similar  to  that 
of  July  18  have  been  made  ever  since  last  faJfl,  fusion  or- 
ganizations of  Brooklyn,  as  well  as  Manhattan,  have  gone 
on  excursions  at  the  expense  of  the  city — and  to  the  great 
inconvenience  of  poor  people  who  wished  to  visit  Mart's 
Island. 

If  these  outings  took  place  under  a  Democratic  administration  they 
would  be  denounced  as  an  outrage  on  the  public,  but  Birrell  has  a 
political  organization  to  look  after.    The  city  operates  a  convenient 


NEW   YORK,  1002-1903. 


113 


river  steamer,  and  what  scheme  could  be  happier  and  cheaper  than 
to  take  out  the  election  captains  and  lieutenants  for  a  pleasant  sail  up 
the  East  River  and  in  the  Sound,  and  enjoy  a  good  dinner  and  "refresh- 
ments" at  the  expense  of  the  city? 

These  excursions  were  painful  subjects  to  the  Fusion  newspapers, 
and  they  said  very  little  about  them,  and  Mayor  Low  took  no  action  in 
the  matter.  Perhaps,  after  all,  as  the  Evening  P,os;t  intimates,  Birrell 
may  hive,  had  no  other  purpose  than  "acquainting!  the.  ordinary  citizens 
of  New  York" — in  other  words,  the  Birrell  |  Association — "with  the 
manner  in  which  their  business  is  being  conducted  under  a  reform 
administration."  And  then,  again,  perhaps  Birrell  preferred  to  avoid 
the  expense  of  paying  for  a  boat  for  a  political  picnic  and  merely 
appropriated  a  city  steamer,  causing  a  lot  <*f  pop,i)  B,eople  to  wait  thirty 
days  before  they  could  get  another  pass  to  go  to  Hart's  Island.  Such 
Is  Reform.  Waoaia  Ma 

.   j — '  j'ft  jA-yrnS  \  iol 

SOME  "FUSION"  SALARY  INCREASES. 


The  Record  Shows  That  Claims  of  Retrenchment  and  Economy- 
Are  False. 

A  study  of  the  roster  of  city  employees,  published  in  the  City  Record, 
July  29,  1903,  exposes  many  examples  of  salary  increases  made  by  the 
Fusion  officials,  who  loudly  prate  of  their  record  of  economy  in  this 
and  other  directions.  t&<l 

Mr.  Rives,  in  the  Corporation  Counsel's  office,  makes  a  brave  show- 


ing in  this  list,  as  follows:  >fl  ti  I 

J.  A.  Stoner.  Junior  Assistant  Counsel  $1,500  to  $1,800  <■ 

F,  J.  Byrne.  Junior  Assistant  Counsel   1,200  to  1,500 

J.  H.  Greaner.  Assistant  Chief  Clerk   3.000  to  3,600 

J.  R.  Salmon.  Clerk...                     ...V. ....... .i ..  2,700  to  3,000 

C.  C.  Halpine.  Clerk   1,200  to  1,500  ' 

J.  H.  Johnstone,  Clerk   900  to  1,050 

T.  J.  Kelly,  Clerk   600  to  750 

F.  E.  Johnstone.  Jr.,  Clerk   600  to      750  > 

H.  A.  McCrumlisk.  Clerk   480  to  600 

H.  J.  Shields,  Clerk..'   300  to      4S0  " 

John  A.  Leddy.  Junior  Clerk   300  to  4S0 

Miss  M.  D.  O'Toole,  Stenographer   900  to  1,050 

Miss  A.  M.  Colleton.  Stenographer    900  to  1,050  ' 

G.  W.  Welch,  Stenographer   900  to  1,050  ° 

W.  H.  Lake.  Examiner  :   1,500  to  1,800  1 

J.  M.  Valles,  Librarian   2.100  to  2.400 

S.  J.  Parmenter,  Assistant...   3.000  to  3,500  1 

H.  T.  Johnstone,  Assistant   1,800  to  1,950 

Miss  M.  French,  Assistant   900  to  1,050 

E.  H.  Wilson,  Assistant   1,200  to  1,500 

C.  J.  Druhan.  Clerk  -.1,050  to  1,200  . 

T.  A.  Murphy,  Process  Server   -900  to  1,200  i 

H.  M.  Powell,  Assistant   1,950  to  2,500 

H.    Steifel.   Assistant   2,500  to  3,000 

F.  W.  Stelle.  Assistant   2,500  to  3,500 

James  McGrath.  Assistant   1,800  to  2,100 

M.  F.  Murphy,  Process  Server    900  to  1,050 

T.  C.  Blake,  Assistant  \  . .  4.000  to  5.000 

D.  Tomlinson,  Assistant     1,800  to  2.500 


And  three  other  increases  amounting  to  $900. 

OTHER  OFFICIALS  KEEP  STEP  WITH  RIVES. 
In  the  Civil  Service  Commission's  office  Examiner  Crandall  had  his 
salary  of  $1,200  doubled;  two  $1,000  stenographers  had  $150  each  added  to 
their  salaries,  and  another  stenographer  was  jumped  from  $1,500  to 
$1,800.    The  Assistant  Secretary,  J.  H.  McCooey,  was  advanced  from 


116 


NEW   YORK,  1002-1003. 


$3,000  to  $4,000,  and  increases  amounting  to  about  52,000  more  were 
made  in  the  salaries  of  five  other  employees. 

In  the  Board  of  Elections  but  $800  was  added  to  the  pay  roll,  and 
the  Board  of  Assessors  jumped  salaries  with  increases  aggregating 

$1,350. 

In  the  Tax  Department  not  a  single  reduction  in  salary  was  made, 
but  $3,250  were  given  in  increases  to  already  well  paid  clerks. 

Outside  of  the  regular  promotions,  there  was  in  the  Street  Cleaning 
Department  a  number  of  salary  increases..  Clerk  C.  A.  Charles  had 
$200  added  to  his  $2,500  salary,  the  $1,800  salary  of  J.  F.  Fitzsimmons  was 
increased  to  $1,950,  Miss  C.  H.  Jeffrey,  stenographer,  was  raised  from 
#1*206  to  $1,500  and  over  $4,000  was  added  to  the  salaries  of  nine  other 
office  employees. 

In  the  Department  of  Correction  the  Secretary  had  $1,000  added  to 
his  $1,500  income  and  a  general  raise  of  salaries  in  all  branches  of  that 
department  increased  the  cost  of  administration  about  $5,000  per  annum. 

^Iiii  Robert  W.  De  Forest's  Tenement  House  Commission  $6,450  was 
added  in  increased  salaries  to  the  pay  rolls,  but  they  were  careful  that 
none  Of  the  increase  went  to  those  whose  stipend  was  $800  per  annum 
or  less. 

In  the  Department  of  Education  about  $5,000  was  added  to  the  pay 
rolls,  nearly  all  of  the  additional  money  being  given  to  those  already  in 
receipt  of  $1,200  and  upward.  In  the  Normal  College  the  salary  raised 
amounted  to  about  $9,000,  and  in  the  City  College  to  about  $5,000. 

In  the  Health  Department  Dr.  Lederle  jumped  two  secretaries  from 
$3,000  to  $5,000  a  year  and  added  about  $4,000  more  to  the  salaries  of  other 
employees. 

The  Armory  Board  has  only  six  salaried  employees,  and  they  are 
not  overworked,  nevertheless  increases  amounting  to  over  $300  were  made 
to  thfeir  salaries. 

Nearly  $5,000  was  added  to  the  salaries  of  other  employees  of  Bellevue 
and  the  allied  hospitals,  but  by  some  strange  oversight  in  this  solitary 
instance  small  salaried  men  were  benefited. 

"Eye  Bar"  Lindenthal  added  $6,500  to  the  salaries  of  his  employees, 
and  in  the  Department  of  Docks  and  Ferries  increases  amounting  to 
over  $2,000  were  made.  * 

The  salary  increases  in  the  Department  of  Water  Supply,  Gas  and 
Electricity  amounted  to  $6,000. 

Borough  President  Cantor's  salary  increases  were  only  $300. 

Commissioner  Livingston  in  the  Public  Works  Department  increased 
salaries  to  the  same  amount  in  his  office,  while  in  his  Bureau  of  High- 
ways, exclusive  of  two  fifty  cent  per  diem  increases  allowed  to  three 
detailed  laborers,  $3,450  additional  were  added  to  the  assistant  engineeis, 
an  already  well  paid  staff. 

In  the  Bureau  of  Buildings  the  increases  amounted  to  $7,150.  while 
in  the  Sewer  Department  $500  was  added  to  the  $3,500  the  principal  engi- 
neer had  been  receiving. 

under  the  Democratic  administration  of  the  Bronx  Borough  by  Pres- 
ident Haffen  the  only  increased  expense  is  in  the  cases  of  several  skilled 
laborers  whose  wage  rate  was  slightly  increased. 


If  children  could  but  vote  to-day, 
On  "Fusion"  in  this  city, 

Why,  they  would  quickly  bury  it 
Without  a  spark  of  pity. 

For  eighty  thousands  are  denied 
The  teaching  that  they  need, 

The  free  schools  cannot  shelter  all 
Because  of  "Fusion's"  deed. 

Oh,  why  in  this  free  land  of  ours, 
Where  men  are  seldom  fools, 

Should  such  neglectful  men  be  givm 
The  power  to  rule  the  schools? 


Vote  against  Republicanism  masked  as  non-partisanship. 


NEW   YORK,  100' 


117 


JEROME'S  REVELATIONS 


OF  "FUSION. 


He  Only  Confirms  the  Public  Belief  in  Its  Insincerity — Th» 
People  Are  Convinced  That  There  Is  No  Good 
Faith  in  Low  &  Co. 

Mr.  Jerome's  share  in  the  campaign  slanders  which  put  "Fusion" 
in  power  made  him  a  good  judge  of  the  different  varieties  of  humbug 
which  distinguished  the  different  periods  of  that  administration.  He 
became  disgusted  with  the  weakness  of  the  particular  brand  of  humbug 
which  distinguished  Mayor  Low's  course. 

The  two  right  bowers  of  Fusion  split  on  the  Sunday  liquor  question, 
Mr.  Jerome  seemed  to  think  that  this  was  one  of  tne  questions  on 
which  some  consistpncy  between  campaign  promises  and  official  per- 
formances could  safely  be  had. 

Mayor  Low,  on  the  other  hand,  being  tied  up  with  the  Republican 
machine  and  its  up-State  constituency  on  the  one  hand,  and  rather 
committed  to  personal  liberty  by  his  campaign  utterances  on  the  other, 
was  in  no  position  to  join  Mr.  Jerome  in  his  liberal  ideas. 

District  Attorney  Jerome  prepared  a  bill  for  Sunday  opening  between 
certain  hours  and  went  to  Albany  to  see  what  could  be  done  in  the 
Legislature.  Of  course,  nothing  was  done  toward  the  passage  of  any 
such  revolutionary  measure:  but  this  effort  of  Mr.  Jerome  and  this 
attitude  of  Mayor  Low  in  connection  with  it  was  tne  parting  of  the 
ways  for  them. 

Even  when  campaign  matters  began  to  stir  up  this  fall.  Low  and- 
Jerome  remained  apart.  Jerome  stayed  in  Lakeville  tinkering  clocks, 
while  the  work  of  the  Republican  Citizens'  Union  politicians,  to  cinch  up 
the  renomination  for  Low,  was  at  its  busiest  stage.  The  clock-maker 
seems  to  have  kept  his  eye  upon  the  situation  and  to  have  been  a 
recipient  of  reports  from  the  seat  of  war  with  great  regularity. 

He  did  not  fail  to  notice  that  the  Republican  end  of 
the  political  part  of  this  Fusion  deal,  consisting  of  Roose- 
velt, Odeli,  Piatt,  Dunn,  Depew,  Bruce  and  Quigg,  rather 
overbalanced  Sheehan  and  Devery,  the  only  representa- 
tives of  the  Democratic  element  (so  called)  in  this  non- 
partisan partnership. 

His  knowledge  of  the  situation,  coupled  with  these  rumors  and  his 
previous  experience  with  the  humbug  of  reform  politics,  convinced  Mr. 
Jerome  that  it  was  his  duty  or  opportunity  to  lead  a  new  sensational 
crusade  this  fall  by  attacking  the  humbug  of  Fusion.  As  it  subse- 
quently appeared  that  his  information  came  from  the  secretary  of  the 
Citizens'  Union.  Mr.  Thomas  A.  Fulton,  the  public  can  safely  rely  upon 
the  accuracy  of  his  conclusions. 

Mr.  Fulton,  it  may  be  said  in  passing,  was  the  most  energetic,  sys- 
tematic and  practical  man  in  the  whole  Citizens'  Union  outfit.  Mr.  Je- 
rome has  dubbed  him  Boss  Cutting's  political  valet.  He  might  better 
have  said  Boss  Cutting's  political  master  mechanic.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  Fulton  will  be  very  much  missed  before  this  campaign  is  over  by 
those  who  made  such  haste  to  kick  him  out  for  allowing  the  public  to 
go  behind  the  scenes  and  get  a  glimpse  of  the  methods  of  the  Fusion 
forces. 

All  of  this,  however,  is  only  useful  as  an  introduction  into  and  an 
explanation  of 

The  very  illuminating  description  which  Mr.  Jerome  has 
furnished  of  his  former  colleagues  and  the  very  clear  ex- 
hibition that  he  has  made  of  the  situation  in  the  ■"Fusion" 
campaign  this  Fall, 


118 


NEW   YORK,  1902-1003. 


The  gems  of  this  public-spirited  contribution,  the  making  of  which 
is  one  of  Mr.  Jerome's  great  services  to  the  community,  are  as  foHows: 
"I  have  satisfied  myself  by  careful  inquiry  that  the 
great  mass  of  the  people  to  whom  we  must  look  for  sup- 
port in  the  coming  campaign  believe  that  Mr.  Low  cannot 
be  re-elected,  and  that  while  they  may  give  him  a  half- 
hearted support  for  the  sake  of  the  cause,  they  cannot 
overcome  their  dislike  and  distrust  of  him. 

"It  is  not  necessary  to  trace  the  commencement  of  this  to  the  pre- 
liminaries in  1897,  when  lack  of  frankness,  or.  as  some  of  us  then 
thought,  disingenuous  and.  an  entire  absence  of  unselfish  courage  laid  the 
foundation  for  a  ^persjonal  dislike  among  the  members  of  the  Citizens' 
Union,  which  has  steadily  increased  in  extent  and  intensity  to  the  pfes- 
jim.  moment.  :  ,  ' 

^'!""^riquiry  satisfies  !^ne  that  this  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  people  to 
whom  we  must  look  for  support  is  not  due  so  much  to  anything  which 
^Nriv  Low  as  mayor' fias  done  or  left  undone  as  to  the  unlovable  per- 
sonality of  the  man  himself. 

"Egotism,  self-complacency  and  constitutional  timidity 
are  not  the  elements  to  make  a  leader,  nor  do  they  attract 
the  love  and  support  of  an  American  electorate. 

"How  characteristic  his  letter  of  acceptance  (?)  is — not  a  scintilla  of 
humor,  not  a  resonant  note,  not  a  spark  of  originality,  absolutely  des- 
titute of  every  indication  of  capacity  for  leadership,  and.  God  knows, 
we  need  leadership  badly  enough,  and  it  is  its  lack  that  has  caused 
us  to  drift  into  the  present  condition,  for  it  is  nothing  but  drifting  that 
we  have  done. 

"The  conference,  he  writes,  forsooth,  is  to  take  the  responsibility. 
There  are  to  be  an  abundance  of  holes  into  which  the  'I'  stamped  all 
over  the  letter  can  crawl,  if  the  event  is  untoward. 

"See,  too,  his  seemingly  disingenuous  attitude  toward  President 
Roosevelt.  A  man  more  appreciative  of  political  conditions  would  know 
that  the  very  semblance  of  Presidential  support  and  advocacy  would 
entirely  alienate  the  independent  Democratic  vote,  without  which  Mr. 
Low  cannot  be  elected. 

"But,  if  it  has  not  been  deliberately  fostered,  centainly 
no  effort  has  been  made  to  check  the  notion  that  Mr.  Low 
is  approved  by  the  President  and  that  the  President's 
influence  is  behind  him, 
and  each  day  this  idea  is  hurting  a  man  loved  by  many  who  are 
dposed  to  him  politically  and  in  a  state  where  in  his  own  time  of  trial 
he  will  desperately  need  every  friendly  influence  he  can  have. 
' '     "You  ought  to  know  better  than  I  the  present  condition  of  affairs  in 
the  Republican  party  in  this  State.    Has  it  occurred  to  you  that  a  part 
of  the  complacency  of  the  leaders  of  the  Republican  machine  in  <>ur 
city  may  be  due  to  the  'kill-two-birds-with-one-stone'  idea?    This  no- 
tipn  of  Mr.  Low's  letter  about  an  independent  Democrat  is  all  nonsense. 
We  Democrats  who  have  worked  so  many  years  in  Fusion  movements 
are  not  considering  this.   We  will  heartily  support  a  Republican,  even 
in  such  a  year  as  this, 

If  we  are  satisfied  that  next  year  he  will  not  be  found 
presiding  at  Republican  political  meetings  and  is  a  man 
who  has  elements  of  leadership  and  a  sincere  belief  in 
honest  and  non-partisan  municipal  government. 

"I  have  no  patience  with  this  talk  about  a  'logical'  candidate.  \V)  nt 
does  it  mean?  I  understand  'candidates'  and  strong  'candidates.'  and 
Republican  ot  Democratic  candidates  and  others  of  this  sort,  but  the 
only  real  meaning  in  the  minds  of  people  who  resort  to  the  term  'log- 
ical' candidate  is  a  candidate  whom  they  do  not  want  but  cannot  get 
rid  of.  In  this  sense  Mr.  Low  is  surely  the  'logical  candidate  of  the 
Citizens'  Union.  You  may  be  able  to  fool  all  ot  ili<  people  some  of 
the  time,  but  not  when  the  matter  about  which  you  felfch  to  deceive  if 
so  open  a  secret. 


NEW   YORK.  1302-1903. 


119 


"You  know  or  ought  to  that  the  Republican  district  leaders  believn 
with  practical  unanimity  that  Mr.  Low  cannot  be  elected,  and  that  very 
much  more  than  a  majority  have  expressed  themselves  in  substantially 
the  language  used  by  one  of  them  to  me.  'We  cannot  help  his  nom- 
ination, put  him  up  and  let  him  get  it  in  the  back  of  the  neck.' 

"You  know  or  ought  to  know  the  financial  difficulties,  and  even"  a 
reform  movement  cannot  be  run  without  funds. 

•  You  know  in  your  own  organization  not  only  with  the 
leaders,  but  with  the  rank  and  file  also,  Mr.  Low  is  the 
most  unpopular  candidate  we  can  select. 

"It  seems  to  me  that  the  Citizens'  Union  leaders  must  know  all 
these  things,  and,  what  is  more,  every  one  else  does;  and  yet  they  join 
with  the  selfish  professional  and  ride  deliberately  for  a  fall  with  brag- 
gart words  on  their  lips  known  to  be  false  and  shame  in  their  hearts. 

"Were  all  our  fond  phrases  and  moral  pretension  in  1901  but  words 
to  us?  Does  the  cause  after  all  mean  nothing?  Must  we  again  go  back 
to  the  old  shameful  method  of  bargain  and  dicker  and  chicanery?  Are 
we  forever  to  have  reformers  praising  the  sentiments  of  the  good,  but 
afraid  to  practice  their  precepts?  Surely,  the  conventional  methods 
being  what  they  are  of  professional  politicians  are  the  best  things  for 
reformers  to  avoid.    Can  we  not  have  a  little  bit  of  faith? 

"To  summarize:  First.  Mr.  Low  should  not  be  nominated  because 
of  his  personal  unpopularity  caused  not  by  adherence  to  the  principles 
of  reform.,  but  springing  from  personal  character  of  the  man.  Had 
the  antagonism  to  him  been  because  of  his  adherence  to  and  enforce- 
ment of  reform  principles,  no  decent  man  could  doubt  that  he  should  be 
renominated. 

"Second — The  sincerity  that  was  in  the  campaign  of 
1901  gave  him  his  victory. .. Should  Mr.  Low  be  renomi- 
nated under  the  existing  conditions,  we  should  commence 
the  campaign  patently  insincerely." 


RANDALL'S  ISLAND  ABUSES. 


This  State  Institution  an  Example  of  the  Mismanagement, 
Parsimony  and  Inefficiency  of  the  Republican  Officials 
in  Partnership  with  Low. 

During  the  past  year  the  Republicans  have  made  much  noise  about 
the  alleged  "Fusion"  reforms  introduced  in  our  institutions  for  criminals 
and  charity  patients.  But  the  grocery  Governor  has  been  very  careful 
to  avoid  Randall's  Island  in  the  numerous  stories  sent  out  by  the  pub- 
licity bureau  to  the  Republican  organs. 

For  years  eminent  sociologists  and  criminologists  have  pointed  out 
the  crying  necessities  of  Randall's  Island.  They  have  sriown  that  re- 
form of  children  is  impossible  where  the  conditions  are  even  worse  than 
in  the  slums  from  which  they  were  snatched.  They  have  shown  that 
the  neglect  is  almost  criminal. 

Jacob  A.  Riis  and  other  sociologists  who  have  visited  Randall's 
Island  have  reported  to  the  Governor  conditions  that  were  so  startling 
the  papers  refused  to  print  the  entire  reports.  But  the  Evening  Sun 
devoted  considerable  space  to  point  out  to  the  Governor  and  the  people 
the  horrible  conditions  existing  on  this  island.  That  paper,  on  June  22d, 
published  a  two-column  article  describing  the  conditions  in  the  Hous» 
of  Refuge,  and  the  heading  reads: 

"ALWAYS  HUNGRY— BOYS  IN  HOUSE  OF  REF- 
UGE DO  NOT  GET  ENOUGH  TO  EAT— NOT  A  FAIR 
CHANCE  TO  WASH. 

"The  meat  supply  cut  down  at  Albany  more  than 
1,200  pounds  per  month,  with  a  largely  increased  inmate 


120 


NEW   YORK,  1902-1903. 


population — State  Board  of  Charities  hears  from  its  In- 
spector— The  State  saves  several  bars  of  soap  at  the  ex- 
pense of  cleanliness — Danger  of  verdigris  in  copper  ket- 
tles— Good  job  for  the  ragman  on  the  island,  says  the  in- 
spector— Only  one  change  of  underclothing  in  two  weeks." 

Articles  similar  to  this  appeared  in  the  Sun  and  other  papers,  and 
the  Grocery  Governor  was  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  he  had  re- 
ceived the  report  of  the  State  Inspector. 

DECREASED   ALLOWANCE  FROM  CITY. 

The  Governor  said  that  this  was  a  "private  institution,  although  it 
receives  substantial  aid  from  the  State  each  year  and  some  aid  from 
the  New  York  City  treasury." 

He  further  claimed  that  the  deficiency  in  the  appropriations  was 
due  to  the  decreased  allowance  from  New  York  City  this  year  of  about 
$15*009. 

The  Fusion  administration  has  claimed  that  they  have 
given  increased  sums  to  support  institutions  like  Randall's 
Island,  but  this  contradicts  their  claims. 

The  Governor  was  finally  compelled  to  make  a  bluff  "investigation.** 
All  that  resulted  from  this  inquiry  was  a  few  new  uniforms  and  some 
•window  sash.     The  meat  supply  was  not  increased,  no  underclothing 
was  supplied,  nor  was  there  any  changes  made  in  the  sanitary  arrange- 
ments, so  badly  needed. 

The  State  and  City  Government  stands  convicted  of  neglecting  the 
House  of  Refuge  on  the  report  of  a  State  inspector,  and  by  the  Gov- 
ernor's own  statement. 

The  purpose  of  the  House  of  Refuge  is  to  make  the  inmates  useful 
members  of  society.  This  cannot  be  done  if  they  are  naif-starved, 
dressed  in  rags  and  their  self-respect  ruined.  The  result  of  such  a  brutal 
policy  is  to  graduate  plastic  material  for  the  penitentiary. 

CONDEMNED   BY   STATE    CHARITY  AGENT. 

The  press  of  the  city  has  not  let  up  in  its  exposures  of  the  neglect 
and  crime  committed  on  Randall's  Island.  The  papers  made  it  so  in- 
teresting for  the  Grocery  Governor  that  he  sent  his  Fiscal  Superintendent 
down  to  make  a  further  investigation  of  the  institution.  Mr.  Bender 
made  a  thorough  inspection  of  this  blot  on  humanity  and  reported  his 
findings  to  the  Governor. 

The  report  began  with  a  statement  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
child  inmates  of  the  reformatory  are  fed.    Mr.  Bender  said: 

"It  is  true  that  the  inmates  of  Randall's  Island  do  not  receive  nutri- 
tious food.    The  dining-rooms  are  in  a  wretched  condition.    There  were  . 
340  boys  at  dinner  at  the  same  time.    In  many  instances 

two  boys  occupied  the  same  chair,  while  other  boys  knelt 
on  the  floor  while  taking  their  food. 

BREAD  WASTED,  BUT  NO  SHOES. 

In  the  second  division  dining-room  twenty  pounds  of  bread  was  gath- 
ered from  the  table  after  dinner,  showing  that  the  boys  receive  too 
much  bread.  .(That  is  the  principal  article  of  food,  and  the  boys  em- 
phasize their  dissatisfaction  by  throwing  it  at  the  attendants.)  There 
are  287  chairs  in  the  dining-room,  showing  a  deficiency  of  53  chairs. 
Many  were  broken,  77  were  without  backs.  I  find  the  inmates  destitute 
of  shoes.  Thirty-seven  boys  wore  shoes  that  were  worthless,  and  many 
of  the  boys  walked  on  their  uppers.  The  instructor  informed  me  that  he 
had  in  stock  only  11  pairs— there  were  922  boys  on  the  island— and  from 
August  1  to  7  none  had  been  manufactured. 

"I  find  that  the  institution  is  short  of  sheets,  pillow  cases  and  night 
shirts. 

"In  the  girls'  department  a  few  months  ago  there  were  in  the 
recreation  room  65  good  chairs.  There  are  now  only  25,  and  10  of  these 
without  backs.    (There  are  more  than  100  girls  in  the  Institution)." 

I  MEAGRE   BILL   OF  FARE. 

Commenting  on  this  part  of  his  report,  Mr.  Bender  remarked  tba^ 
Tvere  animals  so  neglected  it  would  excite  pity. 


NEW   YORK,    llfefc-lOOSr-itf  121 

Then  he  sets  forth  the  meagre  and  monotonous  menu  for  these  chil- 
dren whom  the  State  and  City  seeks  lo  reform. 

For  Wednesday  they  are  served  with  this  "grub" — it  does  not  de- 
serve to  be  called  anything  else: 

Breakfast:  Bread,  coffee,  syrup.  Dinner:  Bread,  stew.  Supper: 
Bread,  milk,  apricots. 

The  bill  of  fare  for  the  other  six  days  of  the  week  reads  almost 
exactly  the  same.  The  inmates  receive  very  little  meat  and  no  veg- 
etables, but  an  occasional  potato.  There  is  no  reason  they  should  not 
be  served  with  plenty  of  vegetables  and  eggs. 

ATTENDANTS    WELL  FED. 

How  about  the  attendants,  those  who  dispense  the  funds?  Are  they 
compelled  to  eat  this  miserable  fare?  This  is  what  -they  get  on  Wednes- 
day: Breakfast:  Coffee,  bread,  rolls,  butter,  broiled  steak,  eggs,  pota- 
toes. Dinner:  Tea  or  coffee,  bread,  butter,  roast  beef  or  mutton,  stewed 
potatoes,  macaroni,  tomatoes,  pudding.  Tea:  Bread  and  butter,  cold 
meats,  canned  salmon.  ,  '  m'rrbs 

The  fare  on  Monday  and  Tuesday  was  about  the  same,  but  on  other 
days  chicken  was  included  in  the  bill  of  fare.  Of  course,  on  Friday,  fish 
was  added  to  the  menu.    But  the  boys  and  girls  never  saw  any. 

Now  Mr.  Bender  asks  why  these  things  are  so— why  the  boys  and 
girls  are  nearly  starved  while  the  attendants  are  fed  "on  the  fat  of  the 
land." 

The  State  Superintendent  visits  all  State  institutions,  and  he  com- 
pares the  conditions  at  Bandall's  Island  with  the  conditions  at  the 
Rochester  Home  of  Refuge,  where  exactly  the  same  allowance  is  made 
for  food.  This  is  a  sample  of  the  wholesome  diet  of  the  Rochester  boys 
for  Wednesday  also: 

Breakfast:  Coffee,  oatmeal,  cookies,  bread,  syrup.  Dinner:  Potatoes, 
bread,  bean  soup,  beets,  beans,  boiled  beef,  lamb  stew,  dumplings.  Sup- 
per: Bread,  syrup,  chocolate,  milk,  cheese,  pea  soup.  (Who  ever  heard 
of  chocolate  at  Randall's  Island?) 

There  is  the  same  remarkable  difference  as  to  dress. 
The  Rochester  boys  are  well  and  comfortably  clad,  and  at 
a  cost  of  only  $9.45  per  capita.    On  Randall's  Island  it 
costs  $20.50  per  capita  to  keep  the  boys  barefooted  and  in 
rags.    This  is  a  clear  case  of  graft  for  some  one. 
The  Governor  should  have  removed  these  officials  and  employees 
long  ago.    His  Newburg  grocery  house  supplies  nearly  all  the  State  in- 
stitutions with  food  and  supplies,  and  it  is  not  quite  clear  why  the  in- 
mates of  Randall's  Island  should  be  starved  and  barefooted  and  with- 
out soap  to  wash  with. 


POLITICS  BLOCKS  BUSINESS. 


Board  of  Estimate  Hampered  by  Absentee  City  Officials. 

"So  busily  engaged  in  politics  are  most  of  the  city  officials 
that  they  have  not  the  time  to  attend  to  public  business,  as 
was  plainly  shown  yesterday  when  the  meeting  of  the  Board 
of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  had  to  be  adjourned  without 
accomplishing  anything  but  the  most  ordinary  routine  busi- 
ness. Appropriations  that  were  to  have  been  taken  up  could 
not  be  considered  because  there  were  three  absent  members 
when  a  unanimous  vote  wa3  necessary  to  approve  the  meas- 
ures in  question." 
The  above  clipping  taken  from  the  New  York  Times  of  September 
10,  1903,  tells  a  story  of  official  neglect  of  public  business  that  is  far- 
reaching  in  its  effect  both  upon  the  city  and  upon  the   owners  of 
property  affected  by  the  numerous  proceedings  now  under  way  and  in  the 
hands  of  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  awaiting  final 
approval.  •  v 


122 


NEW   YORK,    1902— 1908. 


The  charter  provides  that  all  public  improvements  shall  be  Initiated 
by  the  approval  of  one  of  the  several  local  boards  of  the  district  in 
which  the  contemplated  improvements  are  to  be  made,  and  that  there- 
after they  shall  be  ratified  or  rejected  by  the  Board  of  Estimate  and 
Apportionment,  consisting  of  the  Mayor,  Comptroller,  President  of  the 
Board  of  Aldermen  and  the  Presidents  of  the  Boroughs  of  Manhattan, 
Brooklyn,  Bronx,  Queens  and  Richmond.  The  local  boards  are  usually 
stirred  to  action  by  the  petitions  of  the  owners  Of  property  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  contemplated  improvement.  The  preparation  and 
the  obtainment  of  the  signature  to  such  petitions  to  these  boards  con- 
sumes much  time,  and. after  the  local  board  acts  the  petition  and  accom- 
panying papers  are  transferred  to  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportion- 
ment, who  thereupon  send  them  to  the  Chief  Engineer  for  his  report. 

Much  time  is  then  generally  consumed  by  the  engineer  in  the  obtain- 
ing of  data  with  reference  to  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  property  pro- 
posed to  be  taken  for  the  improvement,  and  also  in  estimating  the  assessed 
valuation  of  the  property  which  may  become  liable  for  assessments,  rep- 
resenting part  or  the  whole  of  the  cost  of  the  improvements.  The  matter 
is  then  advertised  in  the  City  Record  for  a  period  of  not  less  than  ten 
days,  after  which  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  may  legally 
act  upon  the  proposition.  These  delays,  which  are  harmful  not  only  to 
all  who  are  interested  in  the  property,  but  to  the  public  at  large,  make 
It  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Estimate  to  act  promptly. 

Mayor  Low  and  the  Fusion  majority  in  the  Board  of 
Estimate  and  Apportionment  are  chargeable  with  wanton 
procrastination  in  these  matters. 

From  the  moment  a  piece  of  property  is  designated  as  likely  to  be- 
come the  property  of  the  city  for  any  public  purpose,  its  selling  and 
rental  value  depreciates.  So  does  the  condition  of  the,  property  itself. 
Tenants  will  not  and  do  not  bestow  the  same  care  on  property  which 
they  expect  to  occupy  for  a  short  period  as  they  do  upon'property  which 
they  intend  to  occupy  for  years,  nor  can  property  so  situated  be  as 
easily  kept  rented  to  responsible  tenants. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  real  estate  in 
New  York  City  is  heavily  mortgaged  and  under  "Fusion  Reform" 
heavily  taxed  on  the  "full  assessment"  plan,  the  sorry  plight  of  the 
owner  who  finds  his  property  under  the  cloud  of  one  of  these  long  pend- 
ing public  improvement  proceedings  either  unoccupied  because  responsi- 
ble tenants  have  moved  out  or  occupied  by  irresponsible  tenants  is  easily 
appreciated. 

In  the  matter  of  the  Fifty-ninth  street  widening  the 
•minutes  of  the  Board  of  Public  Improvements  afford  an 
illustration  of  Mayor  Low's*  procrastinating  and  arbitrary 
methods  with  respect  to  public  improvements. 

Since  the  advent  of  the  Fusion  administration  this  proposition 
has  been  buffeted  about  by  the  local  board  to  the  Board  of  Esti- 
mate and  Apportionment;  and  the  proposition  as  adopted  by  the  local 
board  has  been  ^defeated  by  the  Board  of  Public  Improvements  upon 
the  vote  of  the  'Mayor  himself.  In  this  proceeding  it  was  stated  by 
several  owners  of  property  along  the  line  of  the  proposed  im- 
provements that  many  of  their  leases  expired  on.  the  first  day 
of  May,  1903.  and  that  the  uncertainty  of  the  property  remaining  in  its 
present  condition  restrained  the  lessees  from  renewing  their  leases.  The 
loss  of  the  rental  value  of  property  at  all  time?  affects  its  market  value; 
and  after,  as  in  this  instance,  the  rental  values  of  property  are  per- 
mitted to  decrease  because  of  official  indifference  the  small  equities 
which  many  owners  only  have  in  their  properties  are  necessarily  almost 
entirely  wiped  out. 

The  City  Record  of  September  9.  190.1.  contains  some  startling 
examples  of  official  ignorance,  carelessness  and  neglect  in  other 
public  Improvement  matters.  There  will  be  found  there  a  report  of  the 
nilnutrs  of  the  mating  <>f  the  Hna.nl  of  Estimate  .Mid  Apportionment 
held  July  *JS.  190.1.  in  which  all  the  members  of  the  board,  with  the 
exception  of  the  President  of  the  Borough  of  Richmond,  appear  to  have 
been  present.  The  matter  of  th  >  •  \-r:t  .pj  ■  !.  t<>  the  Madison  avenue 
bridge  came  up  for  consideration.    This  improvement  has  been  con- 


NEW   YORK,  1902—1903. 


123 


templatod  for  upward  of  two  years.  All  citizens  who  have  occasion  to 
use  the  Madison  avenue  bridge  have  demanded  that  some  remedy  for  the 
congested  conditions  which  confront  them  in  their  transit  across  the 
bridge  be  adopted.  There  was  no  dissension  as  to  the  necessity  of 
enlarging  this  bridge. 

By  the  meeting  previous  to  the  one  mentioned  the  approach  was 
adopted;  and  for  some  reason  which  does  not  appear  in  the  minutes 
as  published  in  the  City  Record  of  September  9  the  Mayor  upon  his 
own  motion  moved  that  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  approving  them 
at  the  previous  meeting  be  reconsidered.  There  was  not  a  dissenting 
vote  among  the  officials  who  compose  the  board  and  who  were  present 
at'  that  time.  They  also  resolved  that  the  matter  be  referred  back  to 
the  Dock  Commissioner,  and  that  he  take  some  action  upon  the  alter- 
ation of  the  plan. 

And  so,  in  the  same  issue  of  the  City  Record  may  be  found  the 
proposition  to  acquire  land  for  the  approach  to  the  Willis  avenue  bridge 
and  numerous  other  contemplated  improvements  which  had  been  pend- 
ing before  the  city  authorities  at  least  two  years  previous  to  their 
reaching  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment,  and  in  almost  every 
instance  the  board,  upon  the  Mayor's  motion,  regardless  of  public  de- 
mand for  improvements  and  ignoring  the  rights  of  property  owners, 
voted  that  the  matters  stand  over  until  the  30th  day  of  September  of> 
this  year  without  a  dissenting  vote. 

The  charge  of  procrastination,  however,  is  not  the 
gravest  charge  to  be  made  against  Mayor  Low  in  connec- 
tion with  the  subject  of  public  improvements.    At  his  in- 
stigation and  in  violation  of  public  policy  he  procured  at 
the  recent  session  of  the  Legislature  an  amendment  to  the 
law,  taking  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  the 
power  to  ratify  all  public  improvements  of  the  City  of 
New  York  and  investing  this  power  in  himself  as  Mayor. 
Acting    under    the    power    so    conferred    the    Mayor    on  several 
occasions   has   publicly   stated    while   sitting   as    a    member    of  the 
Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  that  his  official  acts  as  a  member 
of  such  board  may  or  may  not  be  ratified  by  him  in  the  exercise  of  his 
new  prerogatives  which  he  has  cau?ed  to  be  conferred  upon  himself  by 
the  Legislature  through  his  friend.  Governor  Odell.    Thus  under  the  law, 
as  he  has  caused  it  to  be  amended,  even  though  as  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  he  votes  for  the  passage  of  a 
resolution  authorizing  public  improvements,  he  may  upon  the  adjourn- 
ment of  the  board  acting  in  his  individual  capacity  nullify  the  action  of 
the  board  of  which  he  is  a  member  and  overrule  the  judgment  of  his 
associates. 


"HOW  ABOUT  STREET  SIGNS,  MR.  CANTOR? 


The  Small  Results  of  Nearly  Two  Years'  Work  Resented  by 

the  People. 

The  fact  that  the  most  progressive  citizens  in  the  world  should 
have  to  rely  upon  dead  reckoning  to  guide  themselves  about  the  City  of 
New  York  is  not  only  too  great  a  test  of  patience,  but  an  injury  to 
business  and  a  danger.  The  absence  of  street  signs  is  the  most  positive 
kind  of  proof  to  strangers  and  visitors  from  all  i^arts  that  "Fusion"  has 
been  a  pronounced  failure  in  municipal  government. 

The  people  of  New  York  are  always  willing  to  give  any  administra- 
tion a  reasonable  time  to  make  a  demonstration  of  their  policy.  But 
after  twenty-one  months  one  of  th^  most  emphatic  pledges  given  by  the 
"Fusion"  administration  remains  unfulfilled,  and  the  condition  can  only 
be  attributed  to  willful  disregard  of  the  comfort  of  the  citizens.  The 
direct  blame  rests  with  the  President  of  the  Borough  of  Manhattan, 
Mr.  Jacob  Cantor,  who  was  more  vociferous  in  his  promises  and  more 
boastful  than  any  of  the  candidates  of  "Fusion,"  two  years  ago. 


124 


NEW   YORK,  1902-1003. 


CANTOR'S  PROMISES. 

In  a  specific  positive  pledge,  Mr.  Cantor  said  before  election,  that  he 
would  see  to  it  that  the  street  corners  throughout  the  city  were  provided 
with  suitable  signs;  so  that  residents  and  strangers  might  be  able  to 
discover  their  whereabouts  at  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night. 

Now,  over  three-quarters  of  his  term  of  office  has  lapsed,  and  but 
few  signs  are  to  be  seen.  When  he  entered  on  his  duties,  Mr.  Cantor 
at  once  took  up  the  sign  question,  and  there  was  a  long  controversy  over 
the  style  of  signs  to  be  put  up.  The  Art  Commission  had  much  to  say. 
as  it  had  ideas  of  an  aesthetic  nature  which  it»would  not  forego.  Then 
came  a  long  delay  in  discussing  the  contracts.  For  months  the  office 
of  the  Borough  President  in  the  City  Hall  was  filled  with  sample  signs 
representing  the  patents  of  inventors,  and  "Fusion"  officials  from  every 
department  held  afternoon  levees  much  as  artists  do  when  they  open 
an  exhibition  of  their  pictures. 

COMPLAINTS  CONTINUE. 

Complaints  came  in  from  all  quarters,  and  at  Mr.  Cantor's  request 
the  Police  Department  made  a  canvass  of  the  Borough,  and  reported  to 
him  the  section  in  which  the  lack  of  signs  was  most  apparent.  Then 
he  applied  to  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  for  an  appro- 
priation.   On  May  17,  1902,  he  received  an  allowance  of  $40,000. 

No  barrier  was  placed  in  his  pa^th  by  any  department,  but  on  the 
contrary  every  assistance  was  rendered.  The  new  policemen  from  up- 
State  who  had  been  appointed  by  the  Low-Odell-Greene-Platt  political 
combine,  were  especially  desirous  of  having  the  signs  put  up,  so  that 
they  could  find  the  way  to  the  station  houses  to  which  they  had  been 
assigned.  The  street  railroads  were  also  anxious  to  see  the  signs  go 
up;  and  every  citizen  and  visitor  wished  to  find  out  whether  he  was 
going  to  Harlem  or  the  Battery. 

But  delay  after  delay  followed.  When  some  of  the  signs  finally  ap- 
peared, it  was  found  that  only  a  few  of  the  principal  streets  had  been 
equipped  with  them.  They  looked  very  nice  and  were  praised  by  the 
Republican  "Fusionists"  in  whose  districts  they  had  been  placed;  and 
it  was  supposed  the  work  would  continue  until  every  street  in  the  Bor- 
ough had  been  fitted  with  them. 

FINALLY  A  SMALL  BEGINNING  MADE. 

But  it  is  found  that  only  a  beginning  was  made,  and  the  work  then 
stopped.  The  operations  came  to  a  sudden  halt,  and  large  areas  of  the 
city  are  in  the  same  signless  condition  as  when  Mr.  Cantor  took  the 
ante-election  pledge,  and  later  his  oath  of  office. 

The  entire  East  and  WTest  Side  of  the  town  and  those  portions  off 
the  main  lines  of  travel  have  no  signs  whatever.  In  some  sections,  as 
on  St.  Nicholas  and  Upper  Amsterdam  avenues,  posts  for  the  new  signs 
have  been  put  up,  but  the  glass  which  bears  the  name  or  number  of 
the  street  has  not  been  inserted  in  them;  and  consequently  they  are 
useless  and  only  aggravating.  Even  so  crowded  and  important  a  traffic 
thoroughfare  as  Ninth  avenue  below  Fifty-ninth  street  has  been 
neglected.  During  the  first  week  in  August,  as  the  time  the  nominating 
conventions  approached,  an  advertisement  appeared  in  the  City  Record 
inviting  bids  for  signs;  and  Mr.  Cantor  said  that  a  contract  would  be 
awarded  as  soon  as  possible.  The  type  of  sign  asked  for,  is  similar  to 
the  few  which  have  been  already  erected,  in  which  iron,  glass  and 
enamel  were  used. 

Contractors  who  furnished  the  latter  charged  from  $12.50  to  $17.50 
each. 

All  those  who  secure  contracts  are  obliged  to  follow  the  specifications 
established  by  the  Municipal  Art  Commission,  regarding  the  color  of  the 
glass,  the  size  of  the  letter  and  the  dimensions  of  posts. 

The  anger  of  citizens  is  caused  by  the  general  opinion  that  such  a 
simple  and  utilitarian  matter  could  have  been  attended  to  without 
s>»  much  political  buncombe  and  humbug. 


Vote  for  Honest  Democratic  Administration  in  touch  with  the 
wants  of  the  people. 


Vote  against  "Fusion"  fraud  and  false  pretense, 


NEW   YORK.  1902—1903! 


"  Fusion "  Campaign  Material  at  Public  Expense. 


William  C.  Redfield,  Commissioner  of  Public  Works  in  the  Borough 
of  Brooklyn,  hit  upon  the  novel  plan  of  making  the  churches  of 
Brooklyn  centres  for  the  propaganda  of  the  "Fusion"  movement.  Ac- 
cordingly the  Commissioner  had  cards  distributed,  announcing  that  he 
would  lecture  in  a  Lewis  avenue  church  on  "Our  Borough  Government; 
What  It  Is  and  How  It  Works  (illustrated  with  stereopticon  views.)" 

It  was  supposed  that  the  Commissioner  was  too  good  a  churchman 
to  introduce  politics  in  a  lecture  delivered  in  an  edifice  dedicated  to 
the  worship  of  God.  But  his  lectures  and  pictures  were  intended  to 
glorify  the  work  of  the  "Fusion"  administration.  The  stereopticon  pic- 
tures were  on  the  "before  and  after"  order,  purporting  to  illustrate  the 
improvements  made  by  the  Reform  officials.  In  his  lectures  the  Com- 
missioner devoted  little  time  to  the  pictures:  in  fact,  they  were  not 
worth  much  time,  although  they  cost  considerable  money.  Redfield 
preferred  to  pose  as  a  public  benefactor  of  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn, 
and  tell  the  assembled  citizens  what  he  had  done  for  them;  that  their 
only  salvation  was  to  vote  the  "Fusion"  ticket  this  Fall  and  keep  such 
good  ( ?)  citizens  in  office. 

But  this  Reformer  was  not  contented  with  using  a 
church  as  a  political  hall.  He  actually  sent  the  bill  for 
making  the  pictures  to  Grout,  the  Comptroller,  and  ex- 
pected the  city  to  pay  his  campaign  expenses. 

The  city  did  pay  the  first  bill  of  545,  but  a  few  days  afterward  Red- 
field  was  warned  that  in  the  future  he  would  have  to  pay  his  own  cam- 
paign bills,  as  there  was  no  provision  in  the  charter  which  makes 
"Fusion"  campaign  expenditures  a  charge  upon  the  city.  Redfield  prob- 
ably paid  nothing  for  the  use  of  the  church,  but  the  cost  of  printing  the 
cards  advertising  the  "lectures,"  was  charged  to  the  "contingent  expense 
account"  of  the  office  of  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Works. 

If  the  Commissioner  is  sincere  in  his  motives  and  desires  to  be  a 
real  public  benefactor  he  should  give  a  course  of  lectures  and  exhibit 
pictures  describing  the  numerous  scandalous  doings  under  Matyor  Low's 
administration.  For  one  interesting  picture,  the  Commissioner  would 
not  have  to  go  out  of  his  own  department. 

A  picture  showing  one  of  his  drivers  carting  stolen 
paving-stones  to  a  private  yard  would  probably  make  an 
interesting   subject.     The   Commissioner  could  tell  the 
audience  how  this  man  carted  away  over  50,000  paving- 
stones  belonging  to  the  city,  and  when  the  driver  was  ar- 
rested he  implicated  his  foreman. 
The   foreman   fled  from  the   city.     It    is   hard   to  ascertain  the 
value  of  the  stolen  paving-blocks.    The  thieving  had  been  going  on  for 
months  under  the  very  nose  of  the  Commissioner. 

The  history  of  the  Fusion  administration  in  "Word  and  Picture" 
would  be  incomplete  without  a  series  of  slides  depicting  the  twenty-six 
fire  engine  houses  in  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn  upon  which  repairs 
were  made  by  Fire  Commissioner  Sturgis  in  violation  of  the  charter. 
No  doubt  Comptroller  Grout  would  be  glad  to  loan  Redfield  the  reports 
made  to  him  by  the  experts  of  the  Finance  Department  with  reference  to 
the  contracts  given  out  for  these  repairs  by  Sturgis,  as  a  basis  for  a 
lecture  upon  the  management  of  the  Fire  Department  under  the  "Fusion" 
administration. 

It  would  be  very  easy  to  write  many  more  suggestions  of  pictures 
and  topics  fcr  lectures  by  Mr.  Redfield  if  he  really  desires  to  bring  the 
•'Fusion"  administration  before  the  people  in  its  true  light. 

Mr.  Redfield  is  not  the  only  Reformer  who  has  tried  to  use  a  church 


126 


NEW   YORK,  1902—1903. 


as  a  political  hustings.  But  he  is  the  first  politician  who  ever  asked 
the  city  to  pay  the  expenses  of  political  meetings.  Redfield  is  a  fair 
specimen  of  the  men  put  in  office  by  the  alleged  Reformers.  To  use 
a  pulpit  for  exploiting  a  political  party  is  an  insult  to  all  Christians, 
and  will  be  resented  at  the  polls  in  November. 

SWANSTROM  COPIES  REDFIELD. 

Brooklyn  statisticians  have  been  doing  some  close  figuring  on  what 
the  city  will  have  to  pay  for  Borough  President  Swanstrom's  .edition  de 
luxe  bearing  the  campaign  title,  "One  Year  of  Non-Partisan  Adminis- 
tration, Borough  of  Brooklyn." 

It  is  estimated  that  $4,000  will  about  cover  the  bills  for  the  reports 
comprising  the  volumes. 

When  President  Swanstrom  first  planned  this  text-book  of  campaign 
literature  at  the  expense  of  the  city,  he  asked  for  the  printing  of  250  full 
reports  and  5,250  condensed  reports. 

When  the  requisiUonwas  en  route,  it  was  discovered  that  the  char- 
ter limited  reports-  t°  2,oW'COT3tes;  and  Mayor  Low,  Comptrolled  Grout 
and  Corporation  COvuisel  Rives  approved  of  a  modified  requisition  for 
that  number.  *  V?' !!!||  , 

"FUSION"  GRAFT  IN  PUBLIC  BATHS 


Fees  Exacted  from  Frequenters  of  the  "Free"  Baths — Unex- 
ampled Delay  in  Opening  Baths  This  Season. 

For  the  first  time  in  municipal  history — since  "Free"  Public  Baths 
were  established,  they  were  not  "free,"  and  owing  to  neglect  and  grafting 
all  the  benefits  were  lost  to  those  for  whom  they  were  principally 
intended— the  poor  children  and  the  laboring  class  in  the  city. 

The  baths  should  have  been  ready  for  the  public  in  June,  but  it  was 
not  until  July  25  that  half  of  them  were  put  in  commission. 

Soon  afterward  complaint  was  made  that  some  of  the  attendants 
were  grafting — that  children  were  made  to  pay  five  cents  each  to  the 
attendants,  and  that  charges  of  various  kinds  were  imposed.  In  con- 
sequence hundreds  of  children,  unable  to  pay  the  fee,  were  barred  from 
the  baths. 

The  President  of  the  Borough  said  he  would  investigate,  and  an 
attendant  named  John  Caddigan  was  arrested  and  bailed,  but  nothing 
more  was  heard  of  the  case. 

W.  H.  Blatchford,  a  citizen,  alleged  that  five  cents  was  extorted 
for  a  bathing  suit,  and  that  persons  were  not  allowed  to  use  their  own. 

On  days  which  were  reserved  for  women,  according  to  Mr.  Blatch- 
ford, they  were  charged  ten  cents  at  the  bathing  house  at  the  foot  of 
Thirty-fifth  street  and  the  North  River.  The  police,  it  was  said,  w^re 
fully  aware  of  the  outrage. 

But  one-half  the  bath  houses  needed  were  put  in  commission,  as  the 
administration  had  not  applied  to  the  Dock  Department  early  enough 
to  secure  proper  locations. 

Owing  to  the  inadequate  arrangements,  the  free  swimming  lessons, 
under  the  Board  of  Education,  were  interfered  with. 

So  that  the  "Fusion"  administration,  besides  neglecting  to  provide 
sufficient  school  accommodation,  also  failed  to  maintain  the  bath 
privileges  previously  enjoyed. 


THE  RESURRECTIONISTS. 

Dead  issues,  combined  with  manufactured  "facts"  and  false  claims 
of  economy,  efficiency  and  reform  are  mighty  poor  ammunition  to  fight 
political  battles  with.  In  fact  they  are  more  dangerous  to  those  who 
use  them  than  to  those  attacked. 

Two  years  ago  the  adversaries  of  Democracy  laid  great  stress  upon 
the  imaginary  issue  of  absentee  leadership,  with  policies  "made  in  Eng- 
land." The  intelligent  electorate  of  Greater  New  York,  with  its  knowl- 
edge of  what  has  since  been  shown  of  strength  and  harmony  under 
very  present  leaderships,  is  only  amused  by  the  efforts  of  the  prow.'ers 
In  the  political  graveyard  to  raise  the  ghost  of  that  so-called  iMtue. 


128 


NEW   YORK,  1002-1903. 


MAYOR  LOW'S  LITTLE  44  JIMMY." 


A  peculiar  thing  about  this  administration  is  that  as  soon  as  an 
official  entered  upon  his  duties  he  would  look  around  the  office  and  see 
if  the  previous  administration  had- introduced  any  reform.  If  so,  the 
reformer  would  simply  continue  the  good  work  and  announce  in  a 
Fusion  newspaper  that  HE  had  introduced  such  and  such  innovations. 
If  the  preceding  official  had  planned  any  reforms,  the  Fusionist  would 
announce  that  he  intended-  to  do  great  things,  and  then  proceed  to 
carry  out  the  ideas  of  his  predecessor.  Folks,  the  Commissioner  of 
Charities  han  been  noted  for  this  habit  of  "Claiming,"  and  as  Jimmy 
Reynolds  wanted  to  boom  himself  in  the  Fusion  papers,  he  tried  the 
game  of  "Claiming,"  which  seems  to  be  the  favorite  pastime  of  the 
Fusionists. 

George  W.  Brown,  the  Mayor's  Marshal,  proposed  several  innova- 
tions in  the  Bureau  of  Licenses,  and  put  his  ideas  in  writing,  and  sent 
them  to  the  Mayor.  Reynolds,  as  secretary,  of  course,  read  the  papers, 
and  a  brilliant  thought  occurred  to  him.  "Why  not  propose  these 
things  to  his  Honor,  and  tell  him  that  I,  the  sociologist-secretary, 
thought  out  these  reforms?"  So  Jimmy  started  in  to  reform  the  Bureau 
of  Licenses,  and  the  first  thing  he  did  was  to  tell  Low  to  discharge 
George  Brown— the  man  who  proposed  all  the  innovations,  and  who  had 
held  the  position  for  some  time  and  was  acquainted  with  the  needs  of 
the  Bureau.  Previous  to  Brown's  discharge,  Reynolds  had  never  visited 
the  Bureau.  Reynolds,  through  Low,  tried  to  have  the  Legislature  pass 
a  bill  reorganizing  the  Bureau  and  enlarging  its  scope  and  making  its 
head  a  sort  of  a  sub-mayor.  The  term  of  office  was  to  be  ten  years 
and  the  salary  was  to  be  $6,000  a  year.  Of  course  if  this  "sneak"  bill 
had  become  a  law  Reynolds  would  have  landed  the  job. 

However,  Reynolds  put  all  of  Brown's  ideas  into  effect,  and  then 
Jimmy  conceived  some  quite  original  ideas  of  his  own.  He  picked  out 
the  second  hand  dealers  for  objects  of  his  animosity,  and  he  hit  upon 
a  plan  of  persecution  for  the  poor  push-cart  peddlers.  For  one  "re- 
form" Reynolds  will  be  ^remembered  long  after  he  goes  back  to  work 
in  the  slums.  Some  one  told  Jimmy  that  the  police  were  getting  graft 
from  the  push-cart  peddlers  for  not  enforcing  a  certain  ordinance.  So 
Jimmy  conceived  the  brilliant  idea  of  rescinding  the  ordinance,  and 
Low,  who  had  implicit  faith  in  Jimmy,  promptly  ordered  the  ordinance 
abolished.  The  practical  way  to  stop  the  graft  would  be  to  prosecute 
the  police.  But  this  shows  the  kind  of  "reforms"  Reynolds  has  insti- 
tuted in  the  Bureau  of  Licenses. 


Vote  for  Honest  Democratic  Administration  in  touch  with  the 
wants  of  the  people. 


Honest  Democracy,  purged  of  Deveryism,  welcomes  the  return  of 

her  worthy  sons. 


Democracy  is  the  hope  of  the  people  and  the  only  agency  of  real 
reform. 


Lo<w 


the  Man  

Lo<w  the  Candidate 


A  REFORM  EXPERT  S  EVIDENCE. 


District  Attorney  William  Travers  Jerome,  a  shining  light 
in  the  circles  of  "Fusion"  and  "Reform,"  wrote,  Sept.  15,  1903, 
as  follows: 

"I  have  satisfied  myself  by  careful  inquiry  that  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  to  whom  we  must  look  for  support  in  the 
coming  campaign  believe  that  Mr.  Low  cannot  be  re-elected  and 
that,  while  they  may  give  a  half-hearted  support  to  him  for  the 
sake  of  the  cause,  they  cannot  overcome  their  dislike  and  dis- 
trust of  him. 

"It  is  not  necessary  to  trace  the  commencement  of  this  to 
the  preliminaries  in  1S97,  when  lack  of  frankness,  or,  as  some 
of  us  then  thought,  disingenuousness,  and  an  entire  absence 
of  unselfish  courage  laid  the  foundation  for  a  personal  dislike 
among  the  members  of  the  Citizens'  Union,  which  has  steadily 
increased  in  extent  and  intensity  to  the  present  moment. 

"Inquiry  satisfies  me  that  this  attitude  on  the  part  of  the 
people  to  whom  we  must  look  for  support  is  not  due  so  much 
to  anything  which  Mr.  Low  as  Mayor  has  done  or  left  undone 
as  to  the  unlovable  personality  of  the  man  himself.  Egotism, 
self-complacency  and  constitutional  timidity  are  not  the  ele- 
ments to  make  a  leader,  nor  do  they  attract  the  love  and  sup- 
port of  an  American  electorate. 

************ 

"Hoiv  can  you  hope  to  win  in  a  campaign  whose  first  note 
and  its  keynote  is  insincerity?  If  you  could  win,  what  worth 
has  such  a  victory? 

"7  have  no  patience  with  this  talk  about  a  'logical  candi- 
date.'' What  does  it  mean?  I  understand  'candidates'  and 
'strong  candidates'  and  Republican  and  Democratic  candidates 
and  others  of  this  sort,  but  the  only  real  meaning  in  the  minds 
of  people  who  resort  to  the  term  'logical  candidate'  is  a  can- 
didate whom  they  do  not  want,  but  cannot  get  rid  of.  In  this 
sense  Mr.  Low  is  surely  the  'logical  candidate'  of  the  Citizens' 
Union.  You  may  be  able  to  fool  all  of  the  people  some  of  the 
time,  but  not  when  the  matter  about  which  you  wish  to  deceive 
is  so  open  a  secret." 


father  Knickerbocker  Tooled 

v    (A  Fable.)  - 

Once  upon  a  time  Father  Knickerbocker  was 
aroused  from  a  comfortable  nap  in  his  easy 
chair  by  the  clacking  and  chatter  of  some  old 
women  who  declared  that  his  house  needed  a 
"thorough  cleaning."  In  vain  the  genial  old 
man  protested  that  it  was  cozy  and  just  about 
to  his  tastes,  and  in  the  matter  of  respectabil- 
ity and  cleanliness  compared  favorably  with 
those  of  his  neighbors.  He  was  confident  of  his 
own  ability  to  work  out  what  improvements 
were  needed.  The  old  women  insisted  and 
said  that  he  must  also  discharge  all  his  trusty 
and  faithful  servants  and  have  a  new  lot  of 
help.  They  undertook  to  supply  him  with  su- 
perior articles,  not  just  the  ordinary  sort  of 
servants  who  work  for  their  living,  but  college 
graduates  and  sons  of  the  aristocracy  and  fad- 
mongers  and  freaks  of  all  kinds.  Father 
Knickerbocker,  in  a  weak  moment,  permitted 
the  array  of  noisy  incompetents  to  take  pos- 
session and  run  his  home  for  him  on  what  they 
were  pleased  to  call  "reform"  lines.  They 
:  tartcd  in  by  stirring  up  a  terrible  dust  which 
flew  in  all  directions,  then  settled  down  in  new 
piaces.  But  the  dust  and  dirt  remained  in  the 
house,  all  the  same.  The  only  difference  was 
that  you  could  see  it  now,  whereas,  before  it 
at  least  was  hidden. 

Then  the  "reformers"  started  in  to  tie  their 
master  hand  and  foot  with  red  tape  and  blue 
laws,  while  they  pillaged  the  house  and  took 
everything  available  over  to  their  friends,  the 
farmers.  And  the  home  of  old  Father  Knick- 
erbocker became  a  very  unpleasant  place  to 
live  in.  Particularly  offensive  were  the  new 
staff  of  servants  to  his  guests  from  abroad, 
who  saw  no  harm  in  taking  a  stein  of  beer  on 
Sundays  and  enjoying  themselves  in  a  rational 
way  after  their  habit  at  home.  Then  came  the 
time  when  the  period  expired  for  which  the 
"reform"  outfit  had  been  hired,  and  again  all 
the  old  women  raised  their  voices  and  begged 
Father  Knickerbocker  to  give  them  another 
chance  to  muss  around.  But  he  saw  that  his 
home  was  full  of  discomfort.  The  ropes  with 
which *he. was  bound  chafed  and  hurt  him.  and 
with  a  mighty  voice  he  bade  the  "reformers" 
and  the  old  women  be  gone. 

Moral. — New  brooms  raise  a  terrible  dust. 


